New York Mets: Mets need to focus on the bullpen this offseason

The New York Mets had an encouraging end to the 2018 season. That being said, they finished below .500 and need to improve the team this offseason in order to be able to compete next year.

In order to look at what the New York Mets need to do this offseason to improve their roster, look no further that almost every single start made by Jacob deGrom.

For a pitcher who will most likely win the Cy Young, deGrom only recorded 10 wins on the year. This is due to, for the most part, two things.

The offense and the bullpen.

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More often than not, the Mets either couldn’t give their ace the run support he needed or the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead he had given them.

There are encouraging signs for the offense, however. In the last two months of the season, the 4.64 runs per game, up from their average of 4.17 for the entire 2018 season.

However, the bullpen did not do so hot the entire season outside of the month of April.

With the team also trading away an elite bullpen piece in Jeurys Familia, they essentially have nobody to rely on each and every night to get outs in tight spots.

And that is why the Mets’ sole focus this offseason needs to be on upgrading the bullpen.

They finished the year with a 4.07 ERA, which ranked 16th in the league according to EPSN. Of the top 15 teams in bullpen ERA, 14 had winning records in 2018.

This years free agent class has some of the best relievers in the game.

At the top of this list, in terms of their 2018 performance, is now former Rockies pitcher Adam Ottavino.

Also on this list is Familia, who is obviously already comfortable with being a Met and knows what it takes to do so.

With Brodie Van Wagenen as the new Mets general manager, the Mets will be looking to switch gears to more analytical type of approach into building a championship roster.

So, as the data suggests, teams win more games when the bullpen can hold a lead late in games.

In all seriousness, the Mets are not that far off from being a playoff contender. The starting pitching really turned it around the second half of last year, as did the offense.

If they can piece together a competent bullpen, look for them to compete for an NL East crown in 2019.