The New York Mets have dealt with countless injuries up and down their roster during the 2024 campaign, but despite all that, the blue and orange still find themselves in playoff contention. They currently sit a game out of the final wild-card spot with a 63-59 record.
However, reinforcements appear to be on the way as the Mets late blooming relief pitcher is progressing in his rehab and took a giant stride on Friday,
Dedniel Núñez faced live hitters
Before the Mets’ 7-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday, relief pitcher Dedniel Núñez, who has been on the 15-day injured with a right pronator strain.
“We’ll see how he bounces back the next couple of days and then hopefully everything is good to go for Tuesday potentially at Triple-A,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
According to Mendoza, the 28-year-old threw 20 pitches, reaching 94 MPH while having movement on his pitches, which is “pretty good” for his first time back.
The Dominican Republic native had been one of the most prominent surprise contributors and arguably the bullpen’s most valuable relievers since making his MLB debut on April 9. Núñez has pitched 33.1 innings across 24 appearances to a 2.43 ERA with a 0.930 WHIP while recording 45 strikeouts and a save.
What does this mean for the Mets
This was a surprising progression for Núñez. The initial thought was that another bullpen session would be expected before throwing to live hitters, but the 28-year-old felt good enough from his last one to skip that step.
If the Dominican Republic native bounces back and can go to Triple-A Syracuse by Tuesday, as Mendoza said, his timeline will speed up. With Núñez theoretically pitching that same day and requiring two more appearances, if successful with no setbacks, he could rejoin the Mets bullpen before the end of the month.
Once Núñez does return to the blue and orange bullpen, his role may be a bit different with all the different arms in it since he went down with the right pronator strain, but it will be a welcome site for a bullpen that hasn’t been the sharpest over the most recent stretch.