Mets’ Austin Warren comes up big in relief right after call-up

The Mets immediately threw their call-up into the fire in front of a sold-out Citi Field crowd Thursday night. 

Following Griffin Canning’s surprising early exit due to what the Mets believe to be an Achilles tear just 2 ²/₃ innings into the series finale against the Braves, Austin Warren was called out of the bullpen after being brought up Thursday morning from Triple-A Syracuse in place of Jonathan Pintaro. 

Despite heavy circumstances, Warren delivered.

In 2 ¹/₃ innings, he only allowed one hit and struck out two batters, earning the win in the Mets’ 4-0 victory over Atlanta in front of 42,646 fans. 

“Adrenaline kicked in right away and took over,” Warren said. “First off, I just want to pray for Griff. Hopefully he is all right, but I’m glad we could get the ‘W’ for him.” 

Not only did the righty have the weight of helping split the series with their NL East rivals and earning the Mets their third win in the last 13 games on his shoulders, but Canning is a close friend of Warren’s and the two were drafted a year apart by the Angels in 2017 and 2018, respectively. 

Canning’s injury marked the third starting pitcher the Mets have lost to the injury list in two weeks. 

“It was definitely tough [to watch],” Warren said. “When I saw him go down, I instantly jumped up, got moving around and sure enough, my name was called. … I’m close with Griff. When I debuted, he was with the Angels in the big leagues and we hung out a few times. Griff’s a great guy, and like I said, I hate that happened to him tonight.” 

It was Warren’s first major league win since 2023.

The Mets claimed the 29-year-old off waivers from the Giants in January. 

In the minors, Warren built up to around 40 pitches after being limited to six appearances in 2024 due to recovery from Tommy John surgery in May 2023.

Warren posted a 3.94 ERA at Triple-A Syracuse and tallied 35 strikeouts across 19 games.

In 40 big league appearances after Thursday, he has a 2.94 ERA. 

He was able to give the Mets 32 pitches, including 22 strikes. 

“He [Carlos Mendoza] told me every time I came in to just keep filling it up,” Warren said. “I know they needed a couple of innings out of me and obviously pitch count is a big thing. … I’m just glad I filled it up. Defense had some plays behind me, had a few punchouts, and yeah, it worked out.”