Ryne Stanek

Player Data: Age: 34 (7/26/1991) B/T: R/R

Primary Stats: 4-6, 5.30 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 56 IP, 58 SO, 32 BB, 3 SV, 6 BSV, 65 G

Advanced Stats: 76 ERA+, 22.7 K%, 12.5 BB%, 4.41 xERA, 4.40 FIP, 4.98 xFIP, 0.1 fWAR, -1.0 bWAR

2025 Salary: $4.5 million

Grade: D

2025 Review

Ryne Stanek had arguably the worst year of his nine-year career, posting the highest ERA of the seven seasons in which he threw at least 50 innings. His ERA jumped for the fourth consecutive season. His strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.81) was his worst, with the exception of Covid-shortened 2020, when he pitched 10 innings.

After taking the loss in three consecutive one-run defeats at the end of April, Stanek said he was a victim of tough luck.

“I can’t look at one pitch that I didn’t execute over the last three games,” Stanek said on April 30 after he gave up two runs on three hits in a 4-3 loss to Arizona. “And the results have been bad. Expected numbers, like on most of these balls I’m getting hits on, are pretty good in my favor. And I mean I gave up three hits today and the hardest one might have been 80 (mph exit velocity).”

“So you just kind of look at it and go all I can do is beat the hitter and they couldn’t have thrown the ball in a better spot. And such is life. It sucks. It doesn’t feel good. Like nobody is going to feel bad for me. So the job is to go execute and then hopefully the next time they hit the balls at people instead.”

Starting with his next outing, Stanek saw better results. Over his next 11 appearances (9 2/3 innings), he gave up one run. His ERA, which was 5.06 after the loss to Arizona, was down to 3.10. But he’d soon hit another rough patch.

He gave up two runs without recording an out on June 12, served up a three-run homer to Junior Caminero on June 15, and on July 10 he was brought in to a game against the Orioles with the Mets leading 1-0 in the eighth inning and a runner on first.

Gunnar Henderson hit a go-ahead, two-run homer. Stanek then walked three of the next four batters, allowed a sacrifice fly and walked another batter before he was pulled. He threw 31 pitches, 11 for strikes, took the loss and a reporter asked him afterward to assess his first half.

“Besides a couple of ugly ones I feel like I’ve thrown the ball pretty well,” he said. “I think like as a reliever like the games where you give up a crooked number kind of skew your numbers pretty hard. Obviously walking four guys today is not good. That’s gonna obviously skew things too as well. Just I think overall just trying to stay away from like the big ugly ones is more conducive to just putting up overall good numbers.”

Stanek has two more big ugly ones in August – five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning against the Giants and four earned in an inning vs. the Nationals. He pitched to a 5.23 ERA in September, notably giving up a pair of RBI doubles in the season-ending, 4-0 loss to the Marlins.

There are many “what ifs?” when a team misses the playoffs because of a tiebreaker. One of those: What if Stanek had a good year?

2026 Preview

Stanek is a free agent. He’s 34, and his WHIP was the 12th worst in MLB among pitchers who tossed at least 50 innings. (Five of the 11 pitchers who were worse were Rockies.) He had a few good stretches during the year, and relievers are volatile in good ways and bad, but it seems unlikely the Mets will be interested in bringing him back.

I think he will find work elsewhere. Stanek’s average fastball velocity was 98.6 mph this year, which is in line with his career average. Fangraphs’ ZiPS projecting system forecasts a 4.10 ERA for 2026.