Mets shuffle bullpen as Guillermo Zuñiga returns to majors, option Joey Gerber to Triple-A

The New York Mets made another bullpen adjustment on July 5, calling up right-handed reliever Guillermo Zuñiga to join the major-league staff and optioning Joey Gerber to Triple-A Syracuse to create a roster spot. Zuñiga will wear No. 46 for New York, returning to the majors after his most recent big-league time spent earlier in the 2024 season with the Los Angeles Angels, according to reporting that tracked the club’s transaction.

Zuñiga’s promotion gives the Mets another right-handed arm in a bullpen that has required frequent tinkering as the club searches for consistent leverage-inning results. The most recent reporting on the move also framed it as Zuñiga’s first trip back to the big leagues since 2024, when he appeared in 17 games for the Angels and posted a 5.09 ERA over 17 2/3 innings, with additional major-league work earlier in his career including two innings for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023.

At the Triple-A level, Zuñiga has been building his case to return. Before the call-up, he carried a 6.23 ERA in 4 1/3 innings for Syracuse, and he also posted a 1.93 ERA in 9 1/3 innings earlier for Double-A Binghamton, based on the same reporting. The Mets’ decision suggests they are willing to give him a longer look at the highest level now that he has shown enough improvement at the minor-league stops to earn a major-league recall.

The roster move paired with the promotion also affects Gerber, a right-hander who has been used in multiple stints with New York. Reporting on the transaction indicated Gerber started the eighth inning of the Mets’ previous 14-3 loss and allowed a three-run home run to Austin Riley. Across 8 1/3 innings for New York in three separate stints, Gerber had posted a 4.32 ERA with a 4.19 FIP, with eight strikeouts in that major-league work as of the time of the report.

While a return to Triple-A is rarely a comment on pure talent, it does change Gerber’s path to the majors and places more responsibility on the rest of the bullpen to handle late innings in the short term. For the Mets, optioning him keeps the staff flexible, allowing the team to bring Zuñiga into the mix immediately while continuing to manage innings and roles across multiple pitching arms.

Zuñiga’s background also includes international experience that may help the Mets evaluate his ability to handle high-leverage situations. Reporting connected to the call-up noted that Zuñiga pitched for Colombia in the World Baseball Classic earlier this year, allowing four earned runs on five hits over one inning across two outings.

What to watch next is how the Mets deploy Zuñiga once he is in the bullpen mix. The immediate question is whether New York uses him as a multi-inning option, a set-up piece in the middle of late innings, or a specialist for specific matchups, especially given that the team already had to reshuffle roles to accommodate Gerber’s option back to Triple-A. The bullpen carousel tends to stabilize only when one or two arms show they can consistently hold their lane, and Zuñiga’s early usage will offer the first real read on the plan.