Edwin Diaz injury: 3 immediate backup plans for Mets at closer

1. Brooks Raley

When newcomer Brooks Raley left Tampa Bay to sign a two-year, $10 million deal with the Mets over the winter, he probably assumed he wouldn’t get a sniff of the closing opportunities, with Díaz firmly entrenched in the role.

But he might find himself in a closer-by-committee situation before he knows it. Coming from the Rays’ closer carousel, the experience won’t be new for him. The 34-year-old picked up six saves and 22 holds in 53.2 innings last year. He showed good command, with a sparkling 0.97 WHIP, 27.9 percent strikeout rate, and a 6.8 percent walk rate.

Raley has parts of five seasons in the majors, five in the KBO in which he was a starter, and nine saves to his name. Although he doesn’t have the same closing experience as the other backend pitchers in the Mets’ bullpen, he has plenty of red sliders on his impressive Statcast page.

While his fastball and slider velocity both sit lower than the league average, he is stellar at minimizing hard contact. Last season he ranked in the 99th percentile in Barrel% and 98th in HardHit%. He was also in the 94th percentile in xSLG and 83rd in xBA.

Even though Raley hasn’t had a high volume of saves, there’s a good chance he gets an opportunity to close out games for the Mets while Díaz recovers.