The Rockaway Wave
Originally Published July 3, 2026
The New York Mets were buyers at the 2024 trade deadline. The team picked up Ryne Stanek from the Mariners, Paul Blackburn from the A’s, Huascar Brazobán from the Marlins, Tyler Zuber from the Rays and Jesse Winker from the Reds.
With this comes a need to clear spots on the 40-man roster. Six players were designated for assignment by the Mets between July 26 and July 30. Five were directly replaced by a player the Mets acquired via trade, with the only exception being Shintaro Fujinami, who was DFA’d after Kodai Senga was activated from the 60-day IL. Four of those players—Adrian Houser, Jake Diekman, Ty Adcock and Logan Porter—cleared waivers. Houser, Diekman and Adcock were released, and Porter was outrighted to the minors.
Josh Walker, who was DFA’d by the Mets on July 27 as the corresponding move for recalling Tylor Megill from Triple-A, was the only one of the group to be subsequently traded for another player. That player was Nicolas Carreno.
“At first, [I] didn’t know how it worked,” Carreno said through Cyclones outfielder Yohairo Cuevas, who was acting as an interpreter. “But then, thanked God, called [my] family, and [I] also called somebody that was here—he was in Brooklyn last year—Raimon Gómez. [I] knew him pretty well, so [I] called him first.”
Carreno was less than two months past his 18th birthday at the time of the trade, eight games into his second year in the Dominican Summer League. He moved stateside in 2025 and reached Single-A for the final weeks of the season. He returned to Single-A to begin 2026, and broke out. In 11 games and six starts for St. Lucie, Carreno posted a 1.94 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 41 and 2/3 innings.
Cyclones pitching coach Luis Alvarado, who was St. Lucie’s pitching coach last year, said he’s seen an increase in maturity from Carreno this season. He saw the young lefty come into spring training and spend time with other Mets minor leaguers who had the experience of spending most of a campaign in full-season ball (Single-A and above), like current Cyclone Jose Chirinos, and said he took that as a challenge.
“He said I’m going to be on par with you guys and take things to the next level, whether that is playing catch, bullpens and obviously in the game,” Alvarado said.
On June 11, two days after his 20th birthday, he was promoted to Brooklyn. He’s had mixed success in his first four appearances as a Cyclone, but his first was a gem. Carreno threw six innings, allowing four hits, two walks and one earned run while striking out nine. It was the first time in his career that he completed six full innings.
“Preparation was incredible,” Carreno said. “[I] just felt amazing, felt great.”
Carreno throws a pair of fastballs that sit at about 95 mph, and said he is very confident in both.
“He has one of the most special fastballs I’ve seen,” Alvarado said. “It’s a lefty that throws in the mid-to-upper 90s, four-seam has really good ride, the sinker gets in on hitters … so it’s a really good mix. He’s an aggressive pitcher, and like I said, he has a special fastball.”
Despite this, his slider is his most-used and best pitch. It’s easily the pitch that Carreno has the most confidence in. It’s for a good reason, too.
“He can throw it in any count to any hitter,” Alvarado said. “He can throw it early, late, in, out, wherever he wants. It’s his best pitch, but at the same time, he has a really good combination with the fastballs, and that’s what makes it really good.”
The three pitch mix, with two of them being fastballs, reads more like the arsenal of a relief pitcher. For now, though, that’s not a bridge to cross another day, Alvarado said. He’s 20 years old and, in his view, has two special fastballs and a special slider. Maybe they add a changeup or something down the road, but that’s not on the table at this time. He’s started each of his first four games with the Cyclones and should continue to do so.
“Just letting him pitch, letting him compete,” Alvarado said. “He has been competing really well, he’s striking guys out. We like where he is right now.”
Walker never appeared in a game for the Pirates, so Carreno has a chance to make this a very lopsided trade for the Mets. The way he’s tracking, it looks like he’ll at least have a very real chance to become a big leaguer. From there, who knows what could happen.
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