Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
The Mets recently announced that left-handed reliever Brooks Raley was removed from the USA’s WBC roster due to a low-grade left hamstring strain. He experienced tightness in his hamstring yesterday and further imaging revealed the strain. His spot on USA’s roster will be taken by former Met Aaron Loup. Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first to report that Raley would miss the WBC.
Raley, 34, was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor-league southpaw Keyshawn Askew in a December 2022 trade. In 53.2 innings with Tampa Bay last season, Raley posted a 2.68 ERA with a 2.74 FIP, striking out 27.9% of his opponents. He was particularly nails on left-handed hitters, holding them to a .155/.200/282 slash line.
Raley entered camp as the top left-handed option out of Buck Showalter‘s pen, but if he is forced to miss Opening Day, Josh Walker, Joey Lucchesi, and T.J. McFarland could enter the conversation to break camp as the Mets’ only lefty. If the Mets opt to begin the season without a left-hander in the bullpen, Bryce Montes de Oca, Tommy Hunter, Sam Coonrod, Jimmy Yacabonis, and the out-of-options Stephen Nogosek are among the relievers to have impressed this spring
Andy Martino of SNY reported this morning that the Mets are currently not looking outside the organization for left-handed depth, but if they do decide to pursue that route, Zack Britton is still a free agent. It should be noted that Britton pitched for Showalter’s Orioles from 2011 to 2018 and the Mets showed interest in the lefty in January.
