The New York Mets placed Devin Williams on the 15-day injured list Monday with a right shoulder strain, moving the reliever off the roster just as they opened a three-game series against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. Jonathan Pintaro was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to fill the spot.
The move was retroactive to Aug. 8, which means the minimum absence already began to run before Monday’s announcement. That makes the immediate bullpen hit easier to measure: Williams, in his first season with the Mets, had 16 saves and three blown saves while going 3-2 with a 4.66 ERA.
Williams had last worked Friday against the Pirates, when he allowed two runs on three hits and a walk in one inning. His outing was the kind that can look ordinary in isolation and worrisome when paired with what came next, because he had been carrying shoulder fatigue for a while and still believed he could pitch through it.
Andy Green said he did not expect the injured-list stay to become a long-term problem, which is the kind of reassurance clubs often offer when they still hope a pitcher can return quickly. But the Mets acted on the shoulder strain anyway, and that is the more important fact for now: Williams is out, Pintaro is in, and the bullpen has to get through at least the next two weeks without the arm that had handled the ninth inning most often.
The timing matters because the Mets have won five of six and were heading straight into a test against Atlanta. For readers tracking the bigger picture around this bullpen, including the club’s broader pitching choices and Kōdai Senga’s place in them, the situation now is less about what Williams has done in the season’s first stretch than how quickly the Mets can absorb his absence. The next checkpoint is simple: whether he comes off the IL after the minimum or needs more time, because the team has not said how much longer beyond 15 days he may miss.
