3 under the radar Mets players helping the team win games

2) NY Mets reliever Brooks Raley is the left-handed arm the Mets missed last season

Last season, the Mets opened the season with Joely Rodriguez and Chasen Shreve on the roster. Shreve was DFA'd just a couple of months into the season as he never really got it going. Rodriguez lasted the entire season, but was never really the high-leverage lefty most bullpens have. The Mets often opted to use someone like Seth Lugo against opponent's best lefties.

With that in mind, the Mets traded for Brooks Raley, a reliever coming off of a career year in Tampa Bay. Taking one awful outing away, Raley has been as advertised to begin his Mets career.

In just his third appearance of the season, Raley allowed four runs while recording one out in Milwaukee. Raley was just one of virtually every Met who struggled at American Family Field. Before and after that outing, Raley has been dynamite.

Raley has gone nine straight appearances without allowing a run. He's gone 7.2 innings and has allowed just six hits while walking only one. He has eight strikeouts in those appearances. Raley already has eight holds in his 12 outings.

His 3.60 ERA is misleading. He's had one bad outing. Other than that, he's been dominant. The Mets bullpen has been overused, and Raley is no exception to that as he leads the league with 12 appearances. Even with the heavy workload, I have no complaints about what he's done.