PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- In the end, Dedniel Núñez simply ran out of time to make the Mets¡¯ Opening Day roster.
From the jump this spring, team officials questioned whether N¨²?ez, one of the Mets¡¯ best relievers last year, would be ready for March 27 after missing nearly the entire second half due to a pronator strain in his right forearm. Though N¨²?ez reported to camp as a healthy player, the Mets wanted to take him along carefully.
As a result, the right-hander didn¡¯t make his Grapefruit League debut until mid-March and hasn¡¯t had time to check the other boxes most relievers do this time of year -- pitching twice in a three-day stretch, for example, or recording at least four outs in a game. Carrying N¨²?ez on Opening Day wouldn¡¯t have been fair, team officials believe, because it would have forced other relievers to assume heavier workloads early in the year.
¡°I think that¡¯s the right thing to do here,¡± manager Carlos Mendoza said of optioning N¨²?ez. ¡°Especially, we¡¯re talking about a guy that had some elbow issues last year. It¡¯s not fair after just a couple of outings.¡±
The good news for the Mets is that N¨²?ez is unlikely to miss much time. He¡¯s eligible to return from the Minors on April 11 and should be at full strength around that time, if not before. In his Major League debut last season, N¨²?ez struck out 48 batters over 35 innings with a 2.31 ERA.
Another reliever in a similar situation, A.J. Minter, is about a week ahead of N¨²?ez in his recovery from August surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. Minter is overwhelmingly likely to make the team, Mendoza said, assuming he comes out of his final outing Monday without issue.
The Mets will have an eight-man bullpen on Opening Day. Edwin D¨ªaz, Ryne Stanek, Minter, Reed Garrett, Jos¨¦ Butt¨®, Danny Young and starter-turned-reliever Paul Blackburn will occupy seven of those spots. That leaves one job for either Max Kranick or Huascar Brazob¨¢n, with Kranick the on-paper favorite. The right-hander has been one of the Mets¡¯ top pitchers this spring, producing a 1.59 ERA over seven appearances.
Both Kranick and Brazob¨¢n have accessible Minor League options. Both are likely to play significant roles regardless of which one makes the Opening Day roster.
¡°Their stuff is real -- both of them,¡± Mendoza said. ¡°You could make a case for Brazob¨¢n. You could make a case for Kranick. They throw strikes. ¡ We¡¯ll see what happens here.¡±