Austin Warren has entered the NY Mets circle of trust, we shouldn't be so surprised

Austin Warren has now allowed only 1 earned run through 9 innings in 2026. Combine it with only 1 earned run in his 9.1 innings last year, he’s carrying a 0.98 ERA with him as a member of this team. Add in good performances in the past and he’s at 2.55 in 67 career big league innings.

Nobody seemed to actually expect Warren would be able to pitch a whole game’s worth of innings yet again in 2026 and be a run short of a shutout. Yet here we are. 12 games. 18.1 innings. 9.3 K/9 in orange and blue and maybe a few other colors.

In 2024 and 2025, fans couldn’t help but cite the pitching lab for the success of anyone who outperformed expectations. After a frustrating finish and a whole lot of failure in 2026, the once reputable yet discreet pitching lab doesn’t come up in conversation all that much. Many have come to realize there isn’t some underground laboratory that turns a journeyman reliever into Mariano Rivera. In Warren’s case, the Mets are winners because they’re giving him a frequent opportunity to prove it.

Give the Mets credit for finding Austin Warren, give the player the applause for performing

Warren threw mostly sinkers in 2025 for the Mets but has transitioned this year into throwing sweepers for more than 50% of his pitches. Just 2 hits against it in 15 plate appearances, it has been his signature pitch. The sinker has been used 22 times versus 70 with the sweeper. He has thrown 4 other pitches on a more limited basis.

The transition isn’t too unique as he threw more sweepers than any other pitch in 2024 as well as 2023. The outlier is going heavy on the sinker in 2025. He was effective flipping the two main pitches he throws, but has chosen to go back to the basics. Perhaps some of it has to do with the situation he’s in.

It’s a precarious yet not unique spot Warren is in with the Mets. He’s the obvious reliever to option to the minors if there was the need for a fresh arm. And yet he has been their best and most consistent reliever all year. A clogged up bullpen with fathertime catching up to Craig Kimbrel and Sean Manaea not even being useful for mop-up duty threatens his MLB livelihood. 

Warren’s Mets success is something other teams should have seen coming. He had a 1.77 ERA in 20.1 innings as a rookie in 2021 with the Los Angeles Angels. In 10.2 frames with the San Francisco Giants in 2024, he had a 1.69 ERA. They put him on waivers rather than keep him as minor league depth.

A late-blooming reliever isn’t totally unique in this sport, Reed Garrett even being an example of someone who needed to get his teeth kicked in for a few years before finally looking big league competent. Warren is a bit different simply because he has had good stretches like this in the past three other times, including once with the Mets. Their willingness to take a chance on him has paid off and with every clean inning he throws, it’s proof the system isn’t fully broken even if the number of failed Mets signings could pack a stadium.

Warren isn't the Mets MVP despite the chants. What he has become is a well-trusted arm worthy of hanging around if the Mets want to remain competitive.

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