Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports

Denyi Reyes is another right-handed reliever trying to make it to Queens with the Mets this spring. Reyes was signed with the Red Sox in 2015 but reached the majors in that organization. He was then signed by the Orioles before the 2022 season and made his major-league debut in May of last year, tossing 7 2/3 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 2.72 FIP, 1.174 WHIP and a 179 ERA+ in three appearances.

Reyes’ stats in the minors don’t tell the full story of his effectiveness. He had a lousy 7.17 ERA over 15 games (10 starts) and 54 innings of work with 1.519 WHIP. However, his walk rate was a paltry 3.3%. That coupled with the success he had in his brief stint in the majors last year gives hope that there is something there.

Denyi Reyes has four pitches. He leans on his fastball the most (average 93 mph) and mixes in a low-80’s sliders, a mid-80’s changeup and a mid-70’s curveball. Over his three games in the majors last year, his fastball velocity was in the 39th percentile, while his spin was in the 21st percentile and extension in the 94th percentile.

Over his career in the minor leagues (seven seasons), Reyes has posted a 3.29 ERA and 1.088 WHIP in almost 600 innings of work. At the very least, he should be better pitching in Syracuse than he was in Norfolk last season.

Due to his ability to pitch both in relief and start games, there’s a good chance we’ll see Reyes at some point this season if he gets onto the Mets 40-man roster. The Mets are still rebuilding their minor league spot starting options for when they need a turn in the rotation. While this season’s major-league club is built differently, we’ve seen the Mets go from full rotations to rotations with only one or two healthy pitchers the last two seasons. It’s always good to have depth,  which is what Denyi Reyes brings to the table.

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Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

In mid-November the Mets claimed William Woods off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The 24-year old from Tennessee finally made the majors last year where he pitched in two games in late April / early May. Before the start of last season, the Braves were so worried that Woods be selected in the Rule V draft that they added him to the 40-man roster. In the process of creating roster space at the end of the season the Mets were able to swoop in and pick him up.

In his brief time in the majors, Woods allowed no runs over two innings from two hits and a walk while striking out two. He showed his mid-90’s fastball with an average 2391 RPM and his mid-80’s slider with a 2504 RPM (Baseball Savant). He spent most of the season though bouncing around different levels of minor league ball while recovering from injuries. When he was on the field in the minors he had a 6.04 ERA and 1.342 WHIP over 24 games and 25 1/3 innings. The most significant injury he had was an ankle injury that sidelined him from May to July.

Braves websites have written about Woods in the past and their thoughts about his future role has shifted over the years. Before the 2022 season he was seen more as a starter leading with a powerful fastball. At the end of last season he was seen more as a reliever (with the same tool set). Ultimately, he needs to develop secondary pitches to stay in the majors.

William Woods is worth the look the Mets are going to give him this spring. The Mets always need flamethrowers in the bullpen and it is unpredictable when a player can find lightning in a bottle and put all their talents together. Woods has a lot of competition ahead of him. He’s not on the 40-man roster, he’s a righty, etc. Like everyone else we have looked at in this series, a strong spring can change everything.

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Josh Walker. Photo credits: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

Josh Walker is one of several left-handed pitchers the New York Mets are bringing in as non-roster invitees this spring. The six-foot-six reliever is 28 years old. Walker was drafted by the Mets in the 37th round back in 2017 out of the University of New Haven. He has a low-90 MPH fastball, upper 70-MPH curveball, and a changeup.

Walker also received a non-roster invitation to Mets’ camp last season. In 2021, Walker was mainly used as a starter, where he had a 3.73 ERA and a 1.020 WHIP over three different levels of minor league baseball. If he was going to make the major league squad last year however, it was going to be as a reliever.

Unfortunately, Walker picked up an injury in spring that kept him out of most of the season. Over the 13 games he did play in 2022, Walker tossed 22 innings with a 4.91 ERA and a 1.455 WHIP. He got most of his work in Syracuse (Triple-A) where he allowed 12 runs on 18 hits in 14 1/3 innings.

Walker then went to the Arizona Fall League, where he had a lot more success. He allowed only three earned runs over 9 1/3 innings in eight games. He also struck out 14 batters (2.89 ERA, 1.393 WHIP).

Walker, like Zach Muckenhirn and T.J. McFarland, will be battling it out to be the fourth left-handed reliever on the Mets behind Joey Lucchesi, David Peterson, and Brooks Raley. It is unlikely that he breaks camp with the Mets, but if injuries pile up this season, Walker is on the short list to get a shot in the majors.

Interestingly enough, Walker actually kicked off the Mets’ spring training slate of games last season. So, it was clear then that New York wanted to get an extended look at him. For this reason, it should be expected that he will get a similar look this season.

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Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Tommy Hunter is, arguably, already a Mets Legend.

Tommy Hunter, in his 476th career game, gets his first big league hit. pic.twitter.com/VsgfyXH1Gb

— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) May 18, 2021

I’ve come around the Universal DH, but memories like that warm my National League heart.

The 36-year old righty was drafted by the Rays back in 2005, made his debut in 2008 and has traveled all over. He’s played for the Rangers, Orioles, Cubs, Guardians, Orioles (again), Rays, Phillies, and for the last two seasons, the New York Mets. Hunter was mostly used as a starting pitcher until 2013. The Orioles then shifted him to the bullpen for 68 games (still his career high) over 86 1/3 innings.

From 2013 on Hunter has pitched in 396 games making only one start with a 3.14 ERA, 3.46 FIP and a 1.110 WHIP. When healthy, he has the capability of pitching in 60 or more games, but he has only done that four times since 2013, the most recent time being in 2018.

His time with the Mets has been memorable. In 2021,  Hunter pitched eight scoreless innings and collected his first major league hit during a stretch when the Mets were  falling apart health wise but still somehow winning ballgames. Hunter was later traded to Tampa Bay in the Rich Hill trade before re-signing with the Mets the next season. Last year, Hunter pitched 22 1/3 innings over 18 outings with a 2.42 ERA, 1.209 WHIP, 4.28 FIP and a 162 ERA+.

We know what we are getting with Tommy Hunter. He’s a veteran reliever who has been in the game for a while. The question for the Mets — is there space for Hunter on the big-league roster? The question in turn for for Hunter — is he willing to go to Syracuse in April if he doesn’t break with the team in spring?

Hunter is clearly in a position battle for the bullpen. My gut says that if he stays with the Mets, he ends up on the 40-man roster at some point and sees at least as much playing time as he did last year. If he has a tremendous spring, or if there’s an injury, we’ll see him sooner than later.

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Non-roster invites (NRIs) to spring training run the gambit from top-tier prospects to veterans trying to get back on major league rosters to minor-league players who never got their shot. Connor Grey falls into the latter category.

A New York state native who graduated from St. Bonaventure in 2016, Connor Grey was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks back in 2016. He made some noise back in 2017 when he posted a 2.87 ERA over 18 games and 103 1/3 innings spread over four levels of minor league ball. This included a 100-pitch perfect game. The following season showed success again at AA ball, posting a 2.93 ERA over 10 games but hit a roadblock in AAA, posting a 9.39 ERA and 2.478 WHIP in seven games.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened. There was no minor league baseball in 2020 and Grey was essentially cut from the Arizona system. He started to pitch for an independent team in Chicago which is how the Mets found him. The Mets have signed him as a minor league free agent multiple times since then.

Grey started out with Brooklyn in 2021, 3.7 years older than the average player in the league. When Grey was in the Arizona system, he was used primarily as a starter until 2019. The Mets immediately switched him back to his starting role. In Brooklyn, he made four starts with a 3.22 ERA and 1.075 WHIP so he was bumped up to Binghamton. He faced a few more hurdles but finished the year with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.168 WHIP.

The Mets then brought Grey back last year where he pitched exclusively with Syracuse. Grey was 28 years old, only one year older than the average AAA baseball player. Last year was tough for Grey. He had a 6.38 ERA and a 1.668 WHIP over 104 1/3 innings. But, he pitched over 100 innings, which by itself is an accomplishment.

Grey also came frustratingly close last year to making his major league debut. He was added to the Mets roster in a late August series against the Yankees but wasn’t used. Then was designated for assignment, then had to be resigned by the Mets.

I see two different ways Connor Grey fits with the 2023 Mets. If the Mets need a spot starter for one turn in the rotation, and there is no one in the bullpen who can do that (and Showalter doesn’t want to do a bullpen game), Grey could be called up to eat some innings. Or, if the Mets have to turn a long man in the bullpen into a starter, and the innings are starting to add up on arms in the pen, Grey could be called up to become that long man for an afternoon (maybe on a doubleheader day). One thing the Mets have shown us over the years is you can never have too many healthy arms. Grey was *this close* to making his debut last year, I have a feeling the circumstances for his debut will happen at some point this year.

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Poor Billy Wagner… arguably the best left-handed reliever in the game and once again he failed to get enough votes for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame.

And while Wagner was undoubtedly one of the most glaring snubs, he certainly was not the only one as Todd Helton, Andruw Jones, and former Mets Carlos Beltran and Jeff Kent all failed to make the grade.

But hey, congratulations to Scott Rolen on his election to Cooperstown!

It’s just too bad that he’ll be all alone on that podium in June. Thanks, BBWA… for nothing.

Meanwhile, back to this weeks quiz!

In this edition of So You Think You Know the Mets we want you to name all the Hall of Famers that were once members of the Mets.

Let’s see how many one-time Mets you can come up with in three minutes…

Think you can name all 17 Hall of Famers?

Show us what you got!!

Good Luck…

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Last season, Phillies ace Aaron Nola led the major leagues in Strikeout to Walks Ratio – better known as K/BB.

K/BB ratio tells us how many strikeouts a pitcher records for each walk he allows. The number is found simply by dividing a pitcher’s total number of strikeouts by his total number of walks. It’s an essential tool for evaluating pitchers.

This edition of our quiz wants you to name the Top 15 Mets Pitchers who posted the highest career K/BB in franchise history.

Let’s see how many players you can come up with in three minutes…

So you think you know the Mets?

Prove it!!!

Good Luck…

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