NY Mets already have their Devin Williams insurance and it’s not Kodai Senga

The Devin Williams vs. Kodai Senga closer debate was an unexpected one late in the New York Mets season. Williams’ underperformance competing with Senga’s success during his absence had many of us wondering if maybe the former could end up in a setup role with the latter becoming a surprise final boss in the Mets bullpen.

Williams insurance was always a must for the Mets. For a good part of 2026, Luke Weaver was it although the Mets never actually swapped them.

More insurance, whether it’s Adrian Morejon or someone else added this offseason would be delightful. What about someone already on the roster?

Nate Lavender could be the surprising Devin Williams backup plan the Mets can turn to

It’s outdated, but the point Anthony DiComo made in the final days of the 2026 season stand true:

K rate is hardly the full story of a player’s performance. Nonetheless, with Nate Lavender fanning batters at a 10.8 K/9 rate and 32.9% of the ones he faced, he’s among the nastiest relievers in terms of making hitters go for a walk of shame.

Armed with a 1.7 BB/9 rate and 1.66 ERA as well, Lavender wasn’t a one-dimensional reliever. He struck out batters but didn’t walk many at all and kept runs off the board. He did without velocity, a 19th percentile fastball that still managed to hold hitters to a .115 batting average.

Lavender is a bit of a puzzle. He struck out batters without velocity or any particularly dominant secondary pitch to his fastball. None of his other three pitches had a batting average against below .250. His changeup, which had a .286 batting average against, had a 45.5% whiff rate. It was a pitch that didn’t quite doom him, but has a chance to swing one way or another to an extreme.

A deep list of pitches aren’t necessary for a reliever to succeed. Williams only threw three, a fastball, changeup, and cutter. Although he was once again an analytical success with red all over his Baseball Savant page, the end result was far below what the Mets needed. Far too many walks and a rise from 6.5 H/9 to 9.5 H/9 doomed his WHIP. As rough as times were with the New York Yankees last year, he had a 1.12 WHIP compared to the 1.57 in year one with the Mets.

Lavender isn’t in any sort of closer competition. He’s more of a lurker. Righties hit only .114/.205/.286 against him with lefties batting .200/.200/.275. He’s no lefty specialist and high-leverage innings should be served to him from the onset of next season.

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