The Mets have claimed right handed reliever Yoan López from the Marlins. The Mets moved Joey Lucchesi to the 60 day IL to make room for López on the 40 man roster.

Since 2021, López has been part of 4 of the 5 NL East teams. The Braves traded for López during the 2021 season and DFA’d him after the season ended. The Phillies, Marlins and now Mets all claimed him of waivers from one another. The Mets have reassigned him to Syracuse right after the claim.

The 29 year old has been in the majors with the Diamondbacks every year from 2018 till 2021. He still have options left for the Mets to stack him as depth in the minors. He owns a 4.25 Career Major League ERA and had his best season in 2019, with a 3.41 ERA over 60.1 innings.

The main reason the Mets claimed him is probably his increase of strikeouts in AAA. In 2019 (6.2 K/9) and 2020 (7.3 K/9), his K/9 wasn’t way below average. He increased his strikeout rate to 10.1 in 35.1 innings in AAA last year.

López is a fastball/Slider pitcher with an average fastball velo of 95.7mph. He tends to get above average ground ball rates.

López will add some depth and if needed he is likely a guy that could lose his 40 man roster spot. With Lucchesi to the 60 day IL, no player is lost to make this move.

Photo Credit: SNY om Twitter