Following the Dellin Betances signing, the New York Mets are projected to have the best bullpen in the National League.
The New York Mets had one glaring weakness in 2019: the bullpen. Capping off embarrassing losses with blown saves, and shoddy bullpen work in general, was a common sight for Mets fans. Could things be different in 2020?
Well, according to Fangraphs’ projections, New York is going to have the third most productive bullpen in baseball and the best unit in the National League. The Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees top the list at one and two, respectively.
In order for these projections to hold true, the Mets are going to need bounce-back seasons from Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia. According to the projection, Diaz is going to finish with a 2.90 ERA, 2.79 FIP, and 1.9 WAR in 65 innings of work. Familia, on the other hand, is projected to pitch to a 3.92 ERA, 4.02 FIP, and 0.4 WAR in 60 innings.
Of course, these are just projections. After watching Diaz and Familia struggle in Queens for the vast majority of last season, it’s hard to envision either pitcher coming back and having a dominant year.
Dellin Betances could be the wild card. His stuff is good enough to close games if Diaz falters, but he’s coming off of a partially torn Achilles so there are significant injury concerns.
Bullpens are difficult to project given the volatility of relief pitchers, but the Mets certainly have the talent. Moreover, the team’s strong starting rotation will take some of the pressure off of the bullpen.
