NY Mets seem to put heavy importance one pitching stat

Stuff+ is a relatively new baseball stat. FanGraphs tracks its version back to 2020, and the stat “looks only at the physical characteristics of a pitch.” That includes things like velocity, arm angle and release point, spin rate and spin direction, and movement. It is on a scale similar to OPS+ or wRC+, where 100 is average, 101 is 1% better than average, and 99 is 1% worse than average, etc. It is also a stat that the New York Mets excelled in during 2025, and a number the franchise’s front office seems to place significant importance on.

During this past season, Mets pitchers combined for a Stuff+ of 103. That was the fourth best in Major League Baseball and the second best in the National League, trailing only the Philadelphia Phillies (105), Tampa Bay Rays (104), and the crosstown rival New York Yankees (103). This was also a sizable improvement from 2024, when they were in the middle of the pack of Stuff+ at 100, which came in as the 13th best.

Unsurprisingly, the Mets had plenty of pitchers who were among the top of the leaderboard this year in Stuff+. Tyler Rogers’ 128 mark with the San Francisco Giants and the Mets was the second-best among all hurlers with at least 30 innings pitched. Behind him was Ryan Helsley, with a 127 Stuff+ with the St. Louis Cardinals and the NY Mets. This also shows they may have prioritized Stuff+ when it came to deadline acquisitions. Rookie starter Nolan McLean’s 117 Stuff+ was the fifth best among pitchers who threw at least 40 innings as a starting pitcher. Brandon Sproat, Edwin Diaz, Ryne Stanek, Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley, and Reed Garrett were three other Mets pitchers who had at least a 110 Stuff+ in 20+ innings of work.

The Mets seem to care a lot about Stuff+

This isn’t just a number the Mets excel at the Major League level. It’s also a stat that they are among the best in terms of their minor league pitching. According to Baseball America, the Mets’ minor league hurlers had a Stuff+ of 102.2, the fourth best among all 30 teams, behind only the LA Dodgers (103.9), Baltimore Orioles (103), and Miami Marlins (102.8). They were also top five in minor league baseball in Stuff+ when it came to four-seam fastballs (102.8) and sweepers (126.7).

The Mets also had seven pitchers among the top 150 minor leaguers (who threw at least 1000 pitches) in terms of Stuff+. McLean and Sproat were part of that list, along with Brendan Gintron (114), Jonathan Pintaro (112), Will Watson (111), Dom Hamel (111), and Luis Moreno (111). Even former Mets who they traded at the deadline ranked highly in this stat. Nate Dohm, who was sent to the Cardinals in the trade for Ryan Helsley, had a 108 mark, and Wellington Aracena, who the Mets traded to the Orioles for Gregory Soto, came in at a 110 Stuff+.

If you’ve followed along with the Mets’ front office over the last few years, Stuff+ becoming something of note shouldn’t be a huge surprise. The Mets brought in David Stearns during the 2023-2024 offseason. Stearns spent parts of 11 MLB seasons in the Milwaukee Brewers’ organization as a general manager, president of baseball operations, and in an advisory role to ownership. From 2020 to 2023, the Brewers’ 104 Stuff+ was the fourth best in baseball. Meanwhile, the Mets only ranked 15th at 100. Many of the Brewers’ best pitchers over the last decade, such as Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, and Freddy Peralta, were all acquired by Stearns, or did most of their development while he was atop the organization, like Brandon Woodruff and Devin Williams. 

The Mets are doing very well when it comes to the stat Stuff+, and the front office seems to care about stats like this. It’s arguably a massive reason why Baseball America called their farm system one of the most productive in the game right now, with a heavy emphasis on their pitching development. Hopefully, this is all a sign of things to come within the next few seasons for the Mets.