The New York Mets have repeatedly gotten bitten by the injury bug throughout their 2024 campaign.
Recent victims of the injury bug have been relief pitcher Reed Garrett, who is on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation, and Christian Scott, who is on the 15-day injured list with a right UCL sprain.
Now, a breakout reliever is joining the list of injuries as he is heading to the 15-day injured list.
Dedniel Núñez is heading to the 15-day injured list
According to a post from the organization on X, relief pitcher Dedniel Núñez has been placed on the 15-day injured with a right pronator strain, retroactive to July 24.
Núñez has become one of the Mets’ most valuable relievers since making his MLB debut on April 9. The 28-year-old 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.
The Dominican Republic native has the highest fWAR at 0.8 among Mets relievers that haven’t made a start ( José Buttó also has a 0.8 fWAR but has made seven starts) and is third on the entire staff (behind only Luis Severino and Sean Manaea).
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What does this mean for the Mets?
The loss of Núñez is massive for the blue and orange. The 28-year-old’s emergence has been one of the few reasons the bullpen has managed to stay afloat with all the injuries and underperformance.
In addition, the Dominican Republic native’s ability to consistently throw strikes alongside the lethal combination of his mid-90s fastball and high-velocity slider has led to him filling in the setup role for Garrett while he has been out with his own injury. Now, the Mets will have to look elsewhere to close the bridge to Edwin Díaz.
Time will tell when the 28-year-old can return to the bullpen, with him first being eligible on August 8. However, with Núñez now out president of baseball operations David Stearns, the search for some more bullpen help becomes even more dire.
