The Mets’ bullpen has been devastated by injuries.
So it was no surprise when president of baseball operations David Stearns confirmed the club will be looking for relievers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.
“We’ve been hit with injuries in the pitching staff, I think specifically the bullpen,” Stearns said in a news conference before Monday night’s game against the Angels at Citi Field. “And so we will be active there.”
Righthander Max Kranick was the latest to join a long list of Mets arms on the shelf. He was placed on the IL last month with a right elbow strain, and it was announced Friday that he would need season-ending surgery.
Righty Dedniel Nunez recently had Tommy John surgery, joining fellow relievers in lefthander Danny Young and righty Drew Smith, who has not pitched this season.
Lefthander A.J. Minter (left lat strain) has not pitched since April 26. Righthander Tylor Megill (right elbow sprain) last appeared in a game on June 14.
“I think providing our group some reinforcements in the bullpen would be great,” Stearns said.
Some will happen naturally.
Righthander Jose Butto (illness), who has not pitched since June 28, could return as soon as Wednesday. Megill was throwing from 120 feet as of Sunday. Lefty Brooks Raley, who had Tommy John surgery and missed 15 months, returned Saturday with a 1-2-3 seventh inning against the Reds.
The Mets could also look internally, with Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat — two of their top righthanded pitching prospects — making strides with Triple-A Syracuse.
“Ideally, we’d find deals that we think make sense, bring guys in who we think can help us,” Stearns said. “If that doesn’t happen for some reason, then we probably have to begin to think about some of the arms at Triple-A and whether those guys, at some point, can impact us in the bullpen. The challenge with doing that in season is once you do that, you can’t reverse yourself in the same season. We can certainly reverse ourselves over the offseason, but once we shorten someone up to give them a chance to be a member of our pen, really tough to build them back up if you need them as a starter.
“And so we want to be very cautious if we’re going to entertain that.”
Sproat, who has a 4.34 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 85 innings over 19 Triple-A starts, has been dominant lately. Over his last four starts, the 24-year-old has struck out 27 over 23 scoreless innings.
McLean, who turns 24 Thursday, has a 3.08 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings for Syracuse, making nine starts in 12 appearances. He is the Mets’ fourth-best prospect and Sproat is their fifth, according to MLB.com.
Stearns said the Mets do not “have to” call up either pitcher, but it would certainly inject excitement into their current situation.
“If there is a need,” Stearns said, “I think either of those guys could be ready over the next couple months.”
Ben Dickson joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins’ teams.