He has the slowest fastball in baseball.
He only throws two pitches.
His submarine style might be the most unique delivery in the sport right now.
And yet, despite how unorthodox it looks, new Mets reliever Tyler Rogers has been one of the top bullpen arms in baseball for more than half a decade.
Rogers, acquired by the Mets in exchange for reliever José Buttó and prospects Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell, had been a fixture in the Giants’ bullpen before being dealt to the Big Apple on Wednesday.
Since debuting in 2019 with San Francisco, Rogers has posted a 2.79 ERA across 396 ⅔ innings, an incredible stretch of consistency at a position so volatile year-to-year.
Over the past five seasons, Rogers has the sixth-best ERA (2.74) among relievers with at least 250 innings pitched out of the bullpen.
His soft-tossing ways have helped him become perhaps the most durable relief pitcher in baseball while staying as effective as they come.
Since 2021, Rogers has led all relievers with 346 appearances, leading the National League in games pitched twice over that period and pitching in at least 68 games in each of the past four seasons.
Rogers does it with a sinker that averages around 83 mph and a “rising” slider that’s about as funky as any pitch in the sport with nearly a foot of horizontal break.
The submariner doesn’t strike out many guys, punching out just 6.7 batters per nine innings over his career, but he’s a master at generating soft contact and rarely gives out free passes.
Rogers’s 31.1 percent hard-hit rate allowed since 2021 is third-best among qualified relievers. He’s also had a minuscule 2.1 percent walk rate over the past two years.
No stat better shows how tough Rogers is to square up than his home run totals, allowing just 27 home runs in his big league career, including only three in 50 innings this season with the Giants.
At age 34, there’s reason to believe Rogers is better than ever, with full-season career-lows in ERA (1.80), walks per nine (0.7), ground ball rate (64.4 percent) and hits allowed per nine (7.0).
If that’s not convincing enough, the advanced metrics love Rogers despite his quirky approach. He has a sparkling 3.31 fielding-independent pitching over his career and consistently ranks near the top of the leaderboard in expected ERA.
While he won’t light up the radar gun, Rogers immediately will help set things up for Edwin Diaz.
Rogers will slot in behind Diaz in the Amazin’s bullpen, providing quite a contrast from their flame-throwing closer.
With the additions of the hard-throwing Ryan Helsley and southpaw Gregory Soto as well, the Mets have an argument for the most talented bullpen in baseball, at least on paper.