A quietly brilliant NY Mets free agent find that could be more than an innings filler

We’ve only seen him 4 times in the majors and yet the results have been very Luke Weaver-ish. Through 6.1 innings of work, Daniel Duarte has yet to allow a single run, earned or otherwise. In fact, this New York Mets free agent flier has allowed only 1 hit all year and it came in his first appearance back in May.

Limited action for Duarte, once pitching back-to-back days in June, has made his success somewhat overlooked this season. Duarte has been a part of the team’s shuttle to-and-fro Syracuse. Much like Austin Warren last year, who pitched to an ERA below 1.00, Duarte is entering a different kind of conversation.

Duarte probably doesn’t have much value on the trade market although the Mets would be foolish to needlessly hold onto him when they can cash in on a younger, optional lottery ticket instead.

Daniel Duarte has quietly put together an awesome half-dozen innings for the Mets this year

Duarte has lived up to his reputation by keeping the ball on the ground. A 64.3% ground ball rate, he’s public enemy number one in the world of worms.

Fearlessly throwing strikes, or at least getting batters to knock ones out of the zone onto the ground, he has a 2.8 BB/9 rate in the majors. So why hasn’t he managed to stick around?

Aside from occupying the roster spot used to have fresh arms available, Duarte hasn’t pitched well in Syracuse. The walk rate is far worse at 5 BB/9. His 4.75 ERA is very pedestrian. He has surrendered 4 home runs in 30.1 innings of work. 

The situation with Duarte is similar, not completely the same as Warren or even Rico Garcia. Warren had minor league options with the Mets and letting him hang around into 2026 made complete sense. Duarte won’t have the ability to go to the minors without first passing through waivers next year. They could do worse than inviting him to compete for a roster spot next spring (or summer if that’s how long the lockout goes). If they were willing to pay Luis Garcia almost $2 million, Duarte can battle for a job next spring.

Because he does have minor league options for the remainder of 2026, contenders can view Duarte as an 8th or 9th piece on their depth chart. Teams with especially bad bullpens can justify making him something more. At the 2024 trade deadline, with the Mets acquiring Tyler Zuber and Huascar Brazoban in separate deals, they reminded us not every deal at that time of year is for the purpose of renting for two months. Zuber didn’t pitch for the Mets at all until 2025, logging just one inning. Brazoban wasn’t very good in year one and has been a key part of their relief corps over the last two seasons.

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