Mets' familiar foe Hector Neris signs minors deal with NL East rival

A familiar foe of the New York Mets, Hector Neris has signed a minor league deal to rejoin the National League East after three seasons away.

Sep 22, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Hector Neris (50) reacts after a run scores on a balk call during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Minute Maid Park. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

One of the New York Mets' favorite pitchers to face, Hector Neris, has signed a minor league deal with a National League East foe.

For eight seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, Neris was a daunting reliever to face. Primarily serving as the team's closer, the flamethrower tallied 84 saves and a 3.42 ERA during his first stint in the National League East.

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Neris signed with the Houston Astros after the 2021 season and has spent the last three years of his career in the AL West, with a short stint in the NL Central with the Chicago Cubs. But on Monday morning, news broke that the veteran has signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves, bringing Neris back to the NL East.

Braves signed Hector Neris. He’s an NRI who’ll be in camp today. That means there are 49 players in big-league camp.

— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) March 3, 2025

While many teams have dreaded facing the hard-throwing righty, the Mets have not been one of those. For his career, Neris has pitched to an ERA of 4.00 or more against 10 different teams. Eight of those have come in sample sizes of fewer than 20 innings, and the Mets have seen the most success against the veteran across 56.1 innings. In that split, he has posted a 4.47 ERA.

That elevated ERA comes with a 2-8 record and is nearly 1.5 runs greater than his career ERA of 3.33. The craziest part is that his last six outings against the Mets have seen the pitcher not allow any runs; all of the damage dealt against him came during his time with the Phillies, a time when the Mets' offense was far weaker than it is now.

Neris is not a guaranteed lock to make the Braves' 26-man roster out of spring training, as their pitching staff, both the rotation and bullpen, ranks as one of the best in the sport. They also added Buck Farmer earlier in the offseason on a minor league deal, after Farmer posted career-best numbers in bWAR (1.7) and ERA (3.04) in 2024, while surpassing 70 innings pitched for the second time in as many years.

Braves have brought RHP Buck Farmer into camp as a non-roster invitee.

— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) February 16, 2025

Stockpiling pitchers in the minor league system for depth is the calling card of the Atlanta Braves in the Alex Anthopoulos era. It seems likely that this is the plan with Neris: while he may not break camp with the major league roster, he will be up at some point.

If the Mets have to face him in that time, however, history favors Queens in that matchup.