Jefry Yan Will Jump Off the Mound Right Into Mets Fans' Hearts

The only good part about being out of it is that you can experiment with impunity. Obviously, fans would rather be engaged in a playoff race, but that’s all business, all the time, and that means stress. With the New York Mets' trade deadline fire sale complete, they still needed to actually field a 26-man team, and that means promotions for fringe major leaguers, and none is more interesting than Jefry Yan.  

Yan wasted no time introducing himself in his major league debut. Called upon in the sixth inning to protect a 4-3 Mets lead, he struck out Angel Martinez looking, and then proceeded to show off the celebration that is sure to make him a cult hero.

I’ll admit, I’m terrified he’s going to blow out his knee one day, but that level of exuberance is infectious, and that’s something all Mets fans could use more of these days. Yan isn’t getting his first cup of coffee just as a promotional (or literal) stunt. He’s a real borderline major leaguer thanks to some of the nastiest stuff coming out of a left hand—a sinker which averaged 99.5 MPH and a bullet-bender slider that has few, if any, peers—and the rest of his single frame showed everything good and bad about his profile. 

Even though his sinker didn't miss as many bats as the velocity would have you think, the three batted balls he allowed were all on the ground with an average launch angle of -9.7 degrees. Groundballs are a great way to limit damage, but after two consecutive hits, he found himself in a bit of a jam. 

With runners on first and second with one out, Yan loaded the bases by walking Steven Kwan. Kwan possesses an incredible batting eye, but walks are just part of Yan’s effectively wild operation. After loading the bases, Yan bore down. First, he struck out Chase DeLauter, and then he finished the frame with a groundball out to escape the jam. 

In one inning, the Mets were treated to the Full Jefry. Incredible stuff. Tons of ground balls. A lot of wildness. Base runner-induced panic. And an infectious joy. Now, Yan isn’t going to stay in the bigs on vibes alone, but he’s a very interesting developmental project who could yield serious returns. 

Before we get into Jefry Yan the pitcher, I think it’s best to understand the person. Signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Los Angeles Angels, Yan came stateside in 2014 as a 17-year-old and struggled in rookie ball. He repeated the level as an 18-year-old, but blew out and needed Tommy John surgery, ending in his release in 2016. 

This is where most people’s baseball stories end, and it almost did for Yan. Living in the Phoenix area, he worked whatever job he could find, with reports listing landscaping, roofing, interior design, and being a delivery driver. However, through it all, he kept playing ball. Perhaps, he believed he’d get back to bigs. Perhaps, at some level, it was catharsis. All I know is that those poor amateur Sunday league guys must have thought they’d died and gone to hell. 

After three and a half years out of professional baseball, Yan had sufficiently terrorized enough amateurs to earn a contract with the Miami Marlins and started his major league journey all over again. He was wild, but effective, eventually reaching AAA in 2023. Instead of toiling away as a speculative call-up, he went to Japan for the 2024 season, where he posted a 5.58 ERA in 30.2 innings. For a reliever, that’s not going to get you a major-league contract, but it did allow him to find another interested club. 

In 2025, he latched on with the Colorado Rockies. His AAA performance was less than stellar. A 7.28 ERA in 29.2 innings is never going to be enough to get a shot, even for a team as moribund as the Rockies. Heading into his age-29 season in 2026, he got another opportunity with the Mets. While his walk rate remained above 15% (an almost unplayable figure), his strikeouts surged to 39.5% in AA and 50.8% in AAA. 

To go from out of the game to the highest level is an accomplishment in its own right. If last night’s inning is his lone MLB appearance, he’ll have defied the odds, and Yan knows that. His signature jump celebration is an expression of just how happy and lucky he is to be there, on that mound, hurling a leathery orb.

While Jefry Yan’s human interest story is riveting on its own, his ability to pitch is just as intriguing. It’s one game and 24 pitches, but Fangraphs’ PitchingBot thinks he is armed with some of the best stuff, and worst control, in the entire league.  Using the 80-20 scouting scale, PitchingBot takes a pitch’s velocity and movement, among other characteristics, and grades it based upon likely outcome. Yan’s sinker earned a 72, tied for the 15th-best grade among pitchers to throw one inning, and his slider earned a 68, tied for third. His overall stuff score of 64 ranks sixth, but his command score of 39 is one of the lowest in the league. 

The selling point here is pretty simple. Yan is going to strike guys out. He’s going to get ground balls. If he can simply throw an acceptable amount of strikes, he’ll be a real part of a bullpen. It’s a small sample, but the Mets were able to coax a career-high 50.8% first-pitch strike rate from him in AAA, and he did register a first-pitch strike of 66.7% in his lone inning of big league work. 

I wouldn’t bet on him ever throwing a league-average number of strikes, but it’s not impossible to dream. The Orioles famously got Felix Bautista to throw enough strikes to be one of the most dominant relievers in the sport, and they did the same thing with Yennier Cano. There is a history of relievers with big stuff finding the zone later in their careers and becoming legit late-inning weapons. 

The odds are stacked against Jefry Yan ever throwing enough strikes, but so were his odds of reaching the majors back in 2021. So yes, his appearances will oscillate between the sublime and sardonic, but I’ll still enjoy the ride. One jump at a time.