Atop the list of priorities upon the realization that the Mets were going to be in the thick of the postseason hunt was the bolstering of a shaky bullpen.
To president of baseball operations David Stearns’ credit, he did as much as possible to figure out the best combination amidst the hodgepodge of mediocrity exacerbated by an onslaught of injuries — whether that was to Brooks Raley, Drew Smith, Dedniel Nunez, Sean Reid-Foley, or Reed Garrett.
He cut ties with Jake Diekman, Michael Tonkin, and Adrian Houser. Tylor Megill was sent to Triple-A after squandering another opportunity to carve out a role in the majors. Josh Walker and Yohan Ramirez were traded. Jorge Lopez was released.
The moving parts have been endless as was written on the wall heading into the season when the Mets did little to bring in bona fide reinforcements behind Edwin Diaz, who is still trying to find his consistency after missing all of 2023.
But the turning of the team’s fortunes prompted Stearns to try and squeeze water from a stone by picking up more reliable relief arms while keeping the top tier of its farm system intact. When the dust settled on the July 30 trade deadline, it appeared he had done just that.
Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, and Huascar Brazoban were all brought in while the Mets parted with just one top-20 prospect — and he was ranked 19th.
The left-hander Maton, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays, has been solid. He has allowed just three runs on nine hits in 14.2 innings of work (1.84 ERA) in various roles, though he allowed an inherited runner to score what proved to be the game-winning run in Sunday’s loss against the Miami Marlins.
Stanek and Brazoban, however, have left plenty to be desired.
Having faced 28 batters, Stanek has allowed seven runs since joining the Mets from the Seattle Mariners (10.50 ERA), which tends to come in bunches. He allowed three runs in his debut against the Atlanta Braves on July 28 and gave up another four on Aug. 11 against his former team.
Traffic has been never-ending while he has been on the mound. In six innings, he has allowed seven hits, six walks, and a hit batter.
Brazoban’s introduction to life in New York has been even more disappointing, especially after he was nearly untouchable in his final weeks with the Miami Marlins. In his final 14.2 innings before getting traded to the Mets, the right-hander did not allow a single earned run with eight hits and two walks compared to 19 strikeouts.
He has pitched just eight innings with the Mets and a loss of command has come with it. He has allowed five runs on seven hits with four walks and two blown saves.
On Sunday, he uncorked a wild pitch in the seventh inning to allow the tying run to score while also yielding three hits — all while recording just two outs and forcing manager Carlos Mendoza to call on Reed Garrett.
The Mets have such a small margin for error as they enter Monday night’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles two games out of the third and final National League Wild Card spot and continuously leaning on Stanek and Brazoban in high-leverage situations could prove fatal for their postseason hopes. All the while, their best reliever not named Diaz is Jose Butto — the former starter turned multi-inning reliever who has a 1.46 ERA in 24.2 relief innings since July 2.
The issue is that he had been used four times in the last 17 games. Perhaps a tweaking of his role to give him an opportunity in late innings needs to be in the cards to stabilize the bullpen.
