Daniel Duarte’s path back to the majors has been anything but straight, but the Mets reliever is making the most of his latest shot.
The 29-year-old right-hander, who had his second elbow surgery in April 2024, spent 18 months trying to claw his way back to the big leagues. For a while, the odds felt shaky enough that the people around him treated his return as close to a toss-up.
A winter stint in his native Mexico helped change that. Pitching in the Mexican Pacific Winter League, Duarte didn’t allow an earned run in 24 innings and picked up five saves, rebuilding both his confidence and his case.
That performance led to a minor league deal with the Mets, and Duarte said he knew the door was still open.
"I knew once I have the opportunity, I can show that I still can pitch in the big leagues," Duarte told NorthJersey.com this week. "First of all, I want to be healthy because in the past, there’s been a couple of injuries, like one Tommy John and bone spurs and tendinitis, different kind of stuff. I’m glad that now I have no problems, healthy and doing what I like."
He’s done plenty of that in New York.
Since joining a Mets bullpen that was thinned out by a major trade deadline sell-off, Duarte has given the club real stability. In 21⅓ innings, he has allowed two earned runs for a 0.89 ERA, struck out 19 and posted a 0.61 WHIP. Since the deadline, he’s added two saves and four holds across eight scoreless outings, striking out seven while giving up just one hit and three walks in 8⅓ innings.
Interim manager Andy Green has seen exactly why Duarte has worked so well in late-game spots.
"It’s an unpredictable mix. You don’t know how he is going to attack you as a hitter," Green said.
"It’s strikes with all those unpredictable pitches and you’re seeing some good velo out of him right now. Add all that up and then put him in the same bucket as (Nate) Lavender, which is having a low heartbeat in dicey situations and he’s been really, really good."
Duarte’s background helps explain the feel he brings on the mound. He came up as a catcher, and his pitch mix has kept evolving.
In 2023 with the Reds, he started adjusting his mechanics and arm slot. His sweeper has long been his calling card, backed by a high-90s fastball, and he added a cutter to the mix.
That season, he finished 3-0 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.
He still uses a sinker and changeup to create different kinds of movement, but the cutter has become especially important this year.
"Lately, it’s been breaking late. It looks like a fastball the whole way and the last second it as a sharp cut," Duarte said.
"I can manipulate to go up or down. It depends on the hitter now.
In a situation if I want a ground ball, I can manipulate it to go in and down. If I want a swing and miss, I can throw it above the zone and run it up.
"It’s been working really well and hopefully keep learning and working to get better numbers."
Duarte said his drive comes from his Mexican heritage, and he’s embraced the pressure that comes with pitching when the game is on the line.
"It gets you a little more adrenaline. It makes you do your job better because you can’t miss," Duarte said.
"Either you do good or in those situations you can fail. I’m glad I’ve had good outings and continue doing whatever I’m doing.
It’s been working."
The sell-off that reshaped the Mets bullpen also opened the door for pitchers who might otherwise have been afterthoughts. Duarte and Lavender have taken advantage, and neither has allowed an earned run in 14⅔ innings. They’ve handled the tense moments that define late-inning relief, and Green said both have shown enough to keep building their cases.
"They have to have good stuff, but both of those guys have shown the ability in those situations to be who they are and kind of the full version of who they are, which is less common than people realize," Green said. "... They’ve done a really good job of that and that’s an attribute when you couple it with their stuff that makes them pitching meaningful innings for us this year, great, and then we’ll continue to watch what they do the rest of the year and continue to think about where it goes in the future."
After injuries nearly ended his career, Duarte finally got the chance he’d been chasing. Now he’s giving the Mets plenty to think about beyond this season.
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