Daniel Duarte has spent most of the winter being unhittable. The 29-year old righty absolutely tore up the Mexican Winter League over 25 games (24 innings) with a 0.00 ERA. He allowed only ten hits, four walks and one unearned run while striking out 23 batters. That’s good for a 0.583 WHIP and a 3.8 H/9. In a couple of weeks we’ll see if his strong winter will carry over to the spring!
The Mets signed Duarte to a minor league deal with a non-roster invite in mid-December. Duarte hasn’t pitched in the majors since a season ending elbow surgery in May 2024 that caused him to miss all of 2025. Before his surgery he pitched 38 1/3 innings in the majors with a 3.99 ERA, 6.11 FIP, and 1.383 WHIP. In 2023 he pitched in 31 games for the Reds allowing five homers over 31 2/3 innings, leading to a 5.84 FIP. He’s a groundball pitcher, inducing grounders 50% of the time back in 2023. Before Duarte’s surgery he tossed a mid-90’s four seamer and sinker. He also mixed in a low-90’s cutter, low-90’s changeup and a low-to-mid-80’s slider.
Duarte will represent Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. Mexico is in a group with the United States, Great Britain and Italy. That’s not a ton of opportunities for innings against great hitters. Duarte’s winter begs the question about what will happen when he faces more major league hitters. Will the Mets use him early enough in games the last week of February so he faces major league hitters before going off to the WBC?
It is difficult for NRI pitchers to break camp with the Mets given their current roster construction and some of the other pitchers in camp on NRI deals. The Mets did set a record in 2025 with 46 different pitchers used in a single season. If he sticks with the Mets after spring training, we’ll probably see him on the major league roster at some point in 2026.
