The Mets announced Monday that they’ve designated left-hander Jake Diekman for assignment and selected the contract of fellow lefty Matt Gage from Triple-A Syracuse to take his spot on the roster.
Diekman, a 37-year-old veteran reliever, joined the Mets on a one-year, $4M deal back in February. In 32 innings for the Mets, Diekman has punched out nearly 28% of batters faced, though his longstanding control issues persisted. Last year, Diekman benefitted from only 6% of his flyballs leaving the yard, a trend which has reversed in 2024 as he’s seen a whopping 29.2% of flies go for homers. As a result, Diekman has allowed seven home runs already this year — four of which came in his last seven appearances. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza used Diekman in high-leverage spots in May and June, but as you’d expect, that’s changed in July.
Diekman’s contract includes a $4M club option for 2025 that becomes guaranteed with 58 games. The lefty currently has 43 appearances. Though someone might want to pick Diekman up, other teams’ desire to avoid that 2025 vesting option means Diekman will likely be released by the Mets and sign a new deal.
Of late, Mendoza and the Mets have been leaning on Edwin Diaz, Jose Butto and Dedniel Nuñez in the highest-leverage relief situations. The club picked up righty Ryne Stanek
in a trade with the Mariners late last week. Gage will join incumbent lefties Alex Young and Danny Young after posting a 3.42 ERA, 30 K% and 12.4 BB% in 26 1/3 innings for the Dodgers’ and Mets’ Triple-A affiliates.
