NY Mets roster: 1 player to promote, 1 to demote, 1 to trade

1 player to demote: Husascar Brazoban

Huascar Brazoban’s start to the 2025 season was phenomenal. In his first 30 innings, he had a sub-1.00 ERA and WHIP at 0.90 and 0.77, respectively. His peripherals were also solid, with a 26.8% strikeout percentage, a free pass rate of 7.1%, and a HR/9 of 0.60. Brazoban had a solid 7% barrel percentage as well, so preventing home runs wasn’t a huge shock either. His 3.09 FIP suggested some potential regression, but he has since fallen off a cliff.

Brazoban owns an 8.10 ERA, 5.74 FIP, and 1.85 WHIP over his last 20 innings of work. His 21.7% K% is a dip from what it was before. But his walk rate has increased by over double to 18.5%. Home runs have also been a much bigger issue. His HR/9 clocks in at 1.35, which is another stat he has gotten worse in by over double. Batters are tearing the cover off the ball vs Brazoban, with a 13% barrel percentage. He has the worst ERA, FIP, WHIP, walk rate, and barrel rate over this period of playing time.

Brazoban’s ability to locate has deteriorated significantly since then. Location+, a stat on a similar scale like OPS+ or wRC+ and FanGraphs describes as “a count- and pitch type-adjusted judge of a pitcher’s ability to put pitches in the right place”, pinned him at 101 through his first 30 innings. However, his last 20 IP have seen that dip to just 90. Since the start of Brazoban’s struggles, that mark is the 21st lowest among all qualified relievers.

The Mets have already added one new reliever, and are reportedly still shopping for more bullpen arms. Eventually, the Mets are going to have to demote someone if they add another reliever or two, and with how Brazoban has been performing recently, he looks like the odd man out, given that he has easily been the worst Mets reliever over the last two months.