Mets: 3 roster moves keeping New York from World Series contention

3) Call up a left-handed reliever

The Mets only have one left-handed pitcher on their entire pitching staff. They have none in the rotation and only one in the bullpen. That left-handed reliever is Joely Rodríguez. He has an ERA of 5.12 on the year and he is walking six batters per nine innings.

Overall, left-handed hitters are hitting .236/.315/.408 against the Mets bullpen, which is 17th, 18th, and 23rd in the sport. Needless to say, that could use some improvement.

Meanwhile, in Triple-A, the Mets have two left-handed relievers that have major league experience. Alex Claudio has spent each of the last eight seasons in the majors. Last year for the Angels, he struggled (5.51 ERA in 41 games) but he had never had an ERA+ below league average. In Triple-A with the Mets, Claudio has appeared in 25 games and he has an ERA of 3.86. He’s averaging 2.5 walks and 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings.

The other lefty reliever is Rob Zastryzny. Zastryzny appeared in parts of three seasons in the majors with the Cubs but hasn’t been in the majors since 2018. However, in Triple-A with the Mets this year, he has appeared in 24 games (six starts) and he has a 3.89 ERA. He is averaging 3.7 walks and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

With him, he could be a long reliever for the team as well so he has an extra dimension that could help the Mets. The likelihood that both would be called up is minuscule but the Mets need to call up at least one of them to help.