2025 Report Card: Brooks Raley, RP
Brooks Raley
Player Data: 37 (06/29/1988), B/T: L/L
Primary Stats: 30 G, 3-1, 2.45 ERA, 25 2/3 IP, 0.779 WHIP, 25 SO, 6 BB,
Advanced Stats: 166 ERA+, 2.12 FIP, 3.87 xFIP, 2.16 xERA, 25.3 K%, 6.1 BB%, 0.7 bWAR, 0.8 fWAR
Grade: A-
2025 Review
The New York Mets made the decision to sign left-handed reliever Brooks Raley on April 29. Raley, who the Mets acquired from Tampa Bay back in December of 2022, underwent tommy John surgery in May of 2024. The Mets signed Raley knowing he still needed time to rehab from injury, ultimately placing him on the injured list right after the deal was announced. Notably, the deal included a team option for 2026. The hope was the Mets would get Raley for some of the closing parts of 2025 and all of the 2026 season.
Well, the risk New York took on signing the 37-year-old reliever coming off major elbow surgery paid off. Raley successfully rehabbed throughout the Mets’ minor league system, tossing nine innings of scoreless ball while striking out 13 between the Single-A-through-Triple-A levels. He made his return to the major-league mound on July 19, his first major league action since April of the 2024 season.
Raley hit the ground running as he did not allow a run over his first 10 appearances. In all, he threw 25 2/3 innings posting a 2.45 ERA, 0.779 WHIP, and did not allow a single home run. The underlying metrics backed up how successful Raley was as evident by his 2.12 FIP and 2.16 xERA.
Even more impressively, his .181 xBA ranked ninth among 576 qualified pitchers (at least 14 innings pitched). What may be the most unbelievable statistic of Raley’s season is he did not allow a single barrel despite throwing 338 pitches this season. That contributed greatly to the low hard-hit rates and average exit velocities he built his game upon.
To top it off, one of the reasons Raley was brought back to the Mets was to limit the tough left-handing hitting New York was going to see a lot of. Left-handed hitters against Raley in 2025 slashed .103/.212/.138 (.350 OPS). He got his job done nearly every night.
It is not unrealistic to say Brooks Raley was not only one of the left-handed relievers in the league, but one of the best relief pitchers period in 2025 since his return. His 0.8 fWAR generated since July 19 ranked 17th in the league among relievers, with most on the list ahead of him having pitched more innings. That 0.8 fWAR figure is the same amount that closer Edwin Díaz generated over that span. Overall, it was an immensely successful ending to 2025 for Raley, to say the least.
2026 Overview
As mentioned above, when the Mets made the deal they did so with 2026 in mind as well. Raley has a team option that would carry along a $4.75 million value in 2026. If the Mets, for whatever reason, decided to decline it, it would come with a minuscule buy-out cost.
Long story short, expect Raley back in a Mets uniform in 2026 and hopefully healthy for the whole season. He will enter Opening Day as New York’s premier left-handed relief arm in the bullpen. A position he should thrive at, if 2025 was any indication, all season long.
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