The New York Mets have had a busy offseason. They have spent huge to bring in Bo Bichette and added to areas of need with Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Freddy Peralta, but also lost star closer Edwin Diaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers and home run hero Pete Alonso to the Baltimore Orioles, while trading Jeff McNeil to the Athletics and trading Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Marcus Semien. They won some, they lost some, and either way, they hope to be in World Series contention.
Even with all the big moves, though, nibbling around the margins is always going to happen. And a former fringe Met has this week decided to move even further away than before.
Denyi Reyes, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in the majors with the Mets briefly in 2023, has opted to continue his professional career in China, according to multiple reports. The big right-hander’s MLB tenure was brief and mostly unsuccessful, and so now, after failing to get into the big leagues on a permanent basis, he is now opting to continue a second-wind career in the Asian leagues.
Reyes’ Time With The Mets
Reyes made his major league debut on May 2022 at age 25 with the Orioles, with whom he had signed a minor league deal that offseason. In that first top flight season, he appeared in three games, including one start, and allowed eight hits, two runs, two earned runs and an ERA of 2.35 over 7.2 innings of work, with three strikeouts and no home runs allowed. It was a solid beginning, albeit one helped by its small sample size. Reyes was nonetheless the fall guy when Gunnar Henderson earned his first big league call-up, and would sign with the Mets in the winter of 2022, where he would do the bulk of his short Major League career.
In 2023, over nine appearances – including three starts – Reyes pitched 19.2 innings, but struggled to only an ERA of 7.78. During that period, opponents recorded 25 hits off of his pitching, scoring 17 earned runs with three homers, alongside eight walks and 17 strikeouts. Reyes was on the big league roster for two separate stints during the 2023 season, but was only ever innings-filler in both; in 20 appearances for the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate Syracuse, including 18 starts, he did not impress either, struggling to a 5.79 ERA.
Combined across the two seasons of his MLB career, Reyes’ cumulative line was an 0-2 record with a 6.26 ERA, 27.1 innings pitched, 20 strikeouts, and a 1.54 WHIP. The promise of his early days in the minor leagues, and the power suggested by his frame (that proved less potent in practice), did not convert in success against big-league hitters.
Career Rebirth In The Far East
Prior to his major league debut, Reyes had been a hot prospect at the lower levels. He was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent back in 2014, when he was only 17 years old, and spent multiple seasons progressing through Boston’s system. His minor league work came mainly as a starter, and he often posted strikeout rates above double digits per nine innings; a fact that contributed to his initial big-league opportunities. But it did not translate.
Over the past couple of seasons, Reyes has therefore instead been pitching in Korea for the Samsung Lions. In 2024, his first season in the KBL, Reyes performed better, compiling an 11-4 record and 3.81 ERA across 26 starts with 114 strikeouts across 144 innings pitched. And then last year, he was off to a similar start, recording a 4-3 record and 4.14 ERA with 35 strikeouts over 50 innings of work over the season’s first half before seeing it end early due to a stress fracture in his foot.
The Chinese Professional Baseball League is not quite the KBL, but it is comparable as a destination for fringe Major Leaguers. Foreign pitchers are typically signed to be rotation anchors or high-usage starters, with expectations of greater innings totals and central roles than they might receive in the MLB bullpen or spot-start roles, and these contracts also tend to be more financially lucrative than minor league deals. For Reyes, then, this career rebirth is a good thing. But as evidenced by stealing both the Yankee’s closer and primary set-up man this offseason in the forms of Weaver and Williams, the Mets are aiming higher than that.
Former Mets Pitcher Signs in China