A Deep Dive Into the Newest Mets Relievers

In the days leading up to the 2025 Trade Deadline, David Stearns and the New York Mets had a clear priority: bolstering an overworked and quickly deteriorating bullpen. With Edwin Díaz back in elite form, the Mets’ clear weakness was the middle and late innings leading up to the ninth. It was too often that leads unraveled before Díaz could even reach the mound.

When the Mets traded for Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers ahead of the 2025 deadline, the main goal wasn’t to make a long-term bet. Both are on expiring deals, so the ask is simple: stay healthy, be reliable, and help protect leads for the next two months. Both throw right-handed and are elite in their own right, but beyond that, they essentially don’t do anything else the same, offering entirely different skill sets that each solve big problems the Mets’ bullpen has faced this season.

Helsley comes from St. Louis with the resume of a high-leverage reliever and the stuff to match the numbers. He brings a traditional late-inning profile, with velocity, strikeouts, and the temperament of a shutdown closer. A former All-Star in St. Louis, he’s pitched to a 3.00 ERA this season with a strong strikeout rate and an upper-90s fastball that averages 98.9 mph and still touches triple digits. He complements it with a tight mid-80s slider that generates whiffs on both sides of the plate.

Over the years, Helsley’s fastball has become slightly more hittable, but lately, hitters have had virtually zero luck hitting his slider. As a result, he’s begun throwing it as often as his four-seamer, at about 50% each. As a whole, he has a 34.3% chase rate (good for the 94th percentile) and an above-average 26.1% strikeout rate (77th percentile). It’s been a slight down year for the 31-year-old, who’s allowed more home runs than ever before—1.0 per nine innings after averaging just 0.5 from 2022 to 2024—and opponents are slashing .259/.327/.367 against him overall. His fastball, in particular, has been torched, with opponents batting .406 against it. This comes after a 2024 season in which he broke the Cardinals’ single-season save record and finished in the top 10 in Cy Young Award voting.

One thing to monitor is Helsley’s performance against right-handed hitters. Historically, he’s handled both sides of the plate well, as righties have a career .594 OPS against him, which is nearly identical to the .617 mark posted by lefties. But this season, righties have hit him unusually hard, producing an .810 OPS compared to just .580 from lefties. Other underlying metrics suggest this is likely an outlier, but it’s still a trend worth watching down the stretch.

What makes Helsley especially valuable to the Mets is his ability to handle the eighth inning against any part of an opposing lineup. In St. Louis, he worked as a traditional closer, and he successfully converted 21 of 26 save opportunities in 2025. But with Díaz firmly entrenched in the ninth in Queens, Helsley moves into a setup role. His whiff-heavy profile gives New York a clear strikeout threat, and his elite chase rate on the slider proves that he can get hitters to expand the zone. The Mets have used stopgaps in that role all season—Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazobán, Ryne Stanek—but none have offered the consistency or flavor that Helsley brings. As long as he stays healthy, he gives Carlos Mendoza a defined eighth-inning option.

Rogers, on the other hand, relies on everything Helsley doesn’t. While Helsley is all power, Rogers thrives on deception and finesse. The submarining right-hander has a 1.80 ERA this year, along with a 64.4 percent ground ball rate, one of the highest in baseball (99th percentile). He doesn’t miss many bats, with his strikeout rate at just 20%, but he doesn’t need to. His game is built on weak contact. Rogers’ hard-hit rate is among the lowest in the majors, and opponents are slugging just .297 against him.

In addition to that, he probably has the most unorthodox delivery in baseball. Coming from an extreme submarine angle, his sinker drops 52.9 inches, while his slider drops 36.3 inches. That’s about a foot and a half difference. Rogers’ induced vertical break (which takes gravity into account) indicates that his sinker drops about 13 inches, while his slider has about 14 and a half inches of rise. “Bonkers,” former Giants pitching coach Andrew Bailey said in 2023 about Rogers’ so-called “UFO” slider. “It breaks the break chart.” That sinker also generates a ton of awkward contact on the ground, making Rogers especially effective when entering with runners on base.

Rogers also brings something the Mets have sorely lacked in reliability. He’s led the National League in appearances three times and once again leads all relievers in outings this season. Unlike some late-inning arms, he may not be tied to a specific role. He could pitch the seventh, enter with runners on, or in the eighth or ninth if Helsley and/or Díaz happen to be unavailable. His performance this year, and over a seven-year career, is proof that he’s capable of handling just about any situation, including closing in a pinch. His elite 2.1% walk rate gives him a floor even when the strikeouts aren’t there, and his knack for quick outs is a much-needed change of pace for a bullpen that too often struggles to finish innings cleanly.

Together, Helsley and Rogers give the Mets a much-needed structure. Their arrival creates a logical progression that allows the team to ease the burden on overused arms like Garrett, Brazoban, and Stanek. For the first time all season, the bullpen has two legitimate setup options—one overpowering, and the other deceptive. It’s the kind of late-inning framework that teams with World Series aspirations can rely on. Helsley can lock down the eighth with high-octane stuff, while Rogers gives the bullpen a weapon to snuff out rallies at any point late in the game.

Díaz has occasionally pitched the eighth inning when the heart of the opposing lineup was due up. Now, Mendoza has more freedom in managing the final two innings. He can choose to use the better pitcher in Díaz against the toughest part of the order in the eighth or save him for the ninth and use Helsley earlier. With this setup, Mendoza has the flexibility he hasn’t had before in his tenure as Mets manager.

They’ve also proven they can handle high-leverage innings against top-tier opponents. According to Jolly Olive, Rogers and Helsley have combined for 19 1/3 innings against the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, and Padres—four of the National League’s best lineups—and given up just one earned run. They’re built for the kind of competition the Mets can expect to face in October.

If the Mets get health and stability from both, the rest will fall into place. Having two arms this reliable could be the difference between making it through October and watching it from home.

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