Getting excited about a new relief pitcher’s stats in the early going can be a fool’s errand, but it’s a fun one nonetheless. And when a pitcher is doing as well as Dedniel Núñez is so far with the Mets, it’s fun to dream on the team having found a legitimately good new reliever.
Signed by the Mets at the age of 20 out of the Dominican Republic, Núñez—whose 28th birthday is today—began his professional career in his age-21 season in the Gulf Coast League. He’s never thrown a pitch outside of the Mets’ organization since, but he did take a brief detour to the Giants when he was taken in the Rule 5 draft following the abbreviated pandemic season in 2020.