Chasen Shreve, Joely Rodriguez Proving to be Formidable Aaron Loup Replacements in Mets' Bullpen

The Mets’ most productive relief pitcher from 2021, Aaron Loup, left via free agency this past offseason, leaving big shoes to fill in the team’s bullpen.

Not only was New York losing one of its best relievers, but it was losing a great lefty on their pitching staff as well.

Shortly after the three-plus month league wide lockout ended in March, the Mets signed old friend and fellow lefty Chasen Shreve to a minor league deal.

Right before the season started, they then added another southpaw, acquiring Joely Rodriguez in a deal with the New York Yankees in exchange for right-hander Miguel Castro.

While the usage of lefties in current day MLB is different than it once was due to the three batter minimum rule, having productive southpaws in the bullpen is still important for matchup purposes. 

Losing Loup was a big blow as he was relied on heavily in 2021 (65 appearances) while posting a historic 0.95 ERA, but thus far, both Shreve and Rodriguez have been more than solid replacements. 

Shreve, 31, currently has 0.4 fWAR through 10 games (11.2 innings), which is already a career-high.

The Las Vegas native pitched for the Mets in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and put together a decent campaign, as he pitched to a 3.96 ERA, 3.99 FIP and 3.61 xFIP.

Shreve spent last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but was ripe for the picking prior to this year and the Mets pounced.

While there are some flaws in his game (his hard hit percentage is in the 29th percentile according to Baseball Savant and his barrel rate is in the 12th), he has been successful in limiting walks (1.54 BB/9) and has the highest strikeout rate of his career so far (13.11 K/9). The nine-year veteran also has a sparkling 1.54 ERA, 0.67 FIP and 1.46 xFIP.