Drew Smith’s suspension through next weekend — leaving the Mets a player short on the roster — has increased the need for contributions from all corners of the bullpen. 

Dominic Leone is one who has answered that call. The veteran reliever entered Saturday in the midst of his best stretch since he signed with the Mets on May 4.

Leone was unscored upon in eight of his last nine appearances entering play against the Cardinals. 

His biggest spot was the scoreless 10th inning he pitched against the Yankees on Wednesday, preventing the automatic runner from scoring, before the Mets won in the bottom of the frame on Brandon Nimmo’s RBI double. 

“You have got to build your trust within the team and with your manager,” Leone said. “I have got a lot of confidence rolling right now and I think that [manager] Buck [Showalter] is seeing that and I hope he continues to trust me in really any situation.” 

Leone owned a 4.00 ERA in 16 appearances overall since he arrived on the Mets, but in his previous nine games he had pitched to a 1.69 ERA.

Showalter has not been shy in asking Leone to pitch longer than one inning. Twice in his last five appearances, Leone recorded more than three outs. 

The Mets signed Leone after he opted out of his deal with the Giants, who hadn’t promoted him to the major league roster this season.

Leone appeared in 55 games last season for San Francisco and pitched to a 4.01 ERA.

In 2021, he was among the National League’s top relievers, with a 1.51 ERA for the Giants in 57 appearances. 

Showalter pointed to the cyclical nature of the job for non-closers. 

“If you see a guy do real well and then you see over 63 appearances — that’s the average number of appearances for a reliever in a perfect world,” Showalter said.

“When you see those guys in the 70s and 80s, it’s buyer beware, so I think what we’re seeing is he’s in a good place physically and the usage of him, he’s in a good place in the cycle.” 

Leone’s fastball spin-rate ranks in the 82nd percentile in MLB, according to Statcast.

The right-hander has averaged 94.6 mph with his four-seamer and has excelled in getting batters to wing and miss with his slider.

Leone has produced a swing-and-miss with that pitch 39.5 percent of the time. 

“For me it’s more pitch shape and how I feel it’s coming out of my hand,” Leone said. “I don’t really focus on all the analytic, metric stuff.” 

On Friday, Leone and rookie Josh Walker combined to pitch three scoreless innings of relief in the Mets’ 6-1 victory over the Cardinals, allowing Showalter to feel good about the state of his bullpen heading into Saturday when the team’s top relievers would be working on two full days of rest if needed.

It’s part of a balancing act with only seven available relievers until Smith returns. 

David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, Brooks Raley and Smith have been the highest-leverage relievers, but Showalter cited Leone and Jeff Brigham, in particular, as pitchers who have contributed significantly after pitching elsewhere last season.

The Mets acquired Brigham as part of a trade with the Marlins for lower-level minor leaguers. 

“[Leone] has done a better job since we’ve gotten him of attacking left-handed hitters,” Showalter said.

“We don’t have anybody among the league leaders in appearances, and we have to pass the load around. It’s hard to do, but you have got to stay up with it.”