Brooks Raley: Mets Left-Handed Specialist (2023 - 2025)

Brooks Lee Raley was born June 29th, 1988, in San Antonio, Texas. The six-foot, three left hander attended Texas A&M University getting drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the sixth round of the 2009 Amateur draft.

MLB Career: In 2012 Brooks was promoted to the Cubs staff in August, making five starts going 1-2 with a 8.14 ERA. In 2013 he was up & down from AAA Iowa three times, making nine appearances with a 5.14 ERA allowing sight runs in 14 innings.

Korean Baseball Organization: In December 2014 Raley signed a contract to play in the Korean Baseball Organization with the Lotte Giants. He played in five years in the KBO going 48-53 with a 4.13 ERA striking out 755 batters in 910 innings. 

For 2020 he signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds & he made the team for the

Covid19 season. After four games he was traded to the Houston Astros for a player to be named later. In 17 appearances he went 0-1 with a 3.94 ERA. 

2020 Post Season: Rayley made an appearance in one game of the ALWC. In the ALDS he took the loss in Game #3 giving up a pair of runs to the Oakland Athletics. It was the only game Oakland won in the series.

2020 ALCS: In the ALCS he made four appearances in the seven-game loss to the Tampa Rays. In Game #5 he was credited with a hold retiring three batters over the 6th & 7th innings.

In 2021 he returned to the Astros appearing in 58 games, going 2-3 with six saves posting a 3.94 ERA. Rayley recorded his first save in the third game of the season. 

In May he took back-to-back losses to start out the month. On May 13th he came in the game in the 11th inning & earned his first win coming against the Rangers. In that same series he earned another win three days later.

2021 Post Season: In the ALDS he gave up three runs to the Chicago White Sox in the Game #3 loss. In the ALCS he appeared in three games of relief in the win over the Boston Red Sox. 

2021 World Series: Rayley got to his first World Series that year & would appear in four games. He finished off Game #1 & was credited with a hold in Game #4. In four games he posted a 2.70 ERA allowing a run in 3.1 innings.

In 2022 he signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Rays. He started out the season with a save against the Orioles on Opening Day. On May 6th, he pitched the 9th inning in Seattle earning his first & only victory of the season. 

On the year he collected 25 holds, going 1-2 with six saves. He posted a 2.68 ERA with left hand

batters batting just .155 against him on the year. 

Mets Career: On December 7th, 2022, Raley was traded to the New York Mets for Keyshawn Askew.

2023: On Opening Day, Raley made his Mets debut pitching a scoreless 8th inning with two strike outs, collecting a hold in the 5-3 win in South Florida. 

On April 4th, Raley had his worst outing of the year giving up back-to-back HRs to Brian Anderson & Garrett Mitchell in a 8-0 loss to the Brewers. The Anderson HR was a three-run shot after he had given up two singles.

Raley didn't give up another earned run over his next ten games, pitching in 8.0 innings.

From May 14th to July 30th, he gave up four earned runs in holding opponents to a .189 batting average. 

Pitching In Both Ends of a Twin Bill: On May 21st, he pitched in both games of a double header sweep over Cleveland. Raley earned a hold in the first game & then collected his first Mets save in the night cap. 

Raley was the first Mets pitcher since Josh Smoker & Hansel Robles (2017) to appear in both games of a double header.

On June 7th the Braves handed him his first loss of the year. On August 1st, Raley took his second loss blowing a 10th inning 6-4 lead in Kansas City. He gave up a double to Bobby Witt Jr. & a single to KC Melendez. The Mets lost the game when Josh Walker balked in the winning run.

On September 10th, Raley pitched a scoreless 8th inning in Minnesota & earned his first win. He combined with Tylor Megill (6 innings) Phil Bickford, Trevor Gott & Adam Ottovino for a six-hit shutout of the Twins.

Holds: On the season, Raley recorded 25 holds (tied for 10th in the majors). The 25 holds are tied with Mike Stanton (2004) for fourth most in a season in franchise history. 

Overall, he was 1-2 with three saves a 2.80 ERA with career highs in appearances (66) & innings (54.2). He struck out 61 batters & walked 25.

2024: Raley started out the season with three holds allowing no runs thru his first five games. On April 14th at Citi Field, he collected his first win of the season pitching a scoreless 8th inning. Harrison Bader's RBI single & Brandon Nimmo's bases loaded walk provided the offense.

On April 19th Raley went down with injury, a month later it was determined the 35-year-old would need elbow surgery to repair a UCL strain.

Quotes- Carlos Mendoza: "It's unfortunate because he gave everything he had."

In eight appearances, he pitched seven scoreless innings, with nine strike outs & three walks.

After the season he was a free agent. After surgery & recovery he missed the 2024 season. On April 25, 2025 he was resigned by the Mets on a one-year deal.

2025: Brooks went thru the ranks of the minors A ball St. Lucie (three games) AA Binghamton (two games) & AAA Syracuse (three games).

 On July 19th he returned to the big leagues, pitching a scoreless 7th inning in a loss to the Reds at Citi Field. Raley struck out two batters in the inning.

On July 21st in a 7-5 win over the Dodgers at Citi Field, he was credited for his first win in two years, pitching a perfect 8th inning of a 5-5 tie. The Mets came back with two runs in the bottom of the inning for the win.

Thru his first ten appearances he pitched 8.2 scoreless innings collecting three holds. On August 15th the Mariners scored three runs off him breaking the scoreless streak in an 11-9 loss. From there he made six more scoreless appearances.

In September Brooks was one of the Mets most consistent relievers, collecting six holds in the month, allowing runs in three of 13 appearances. On September 19th, he earned his second victory recording the final two outs of the 5th inning after Huascar Brazoban issued a two run HR to the Nat's CJ Abrams narrowing the Mets lead to 8-6 at Citi Field. 

On September 23rd, as the Mets were holding on to the last wild card spot he earned the win in a
big game over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. After the bullpen blew another lead, he struck out Pete Crow-Armstrong with two men on to end the 7th inning tied at seven, He benefited from Francisco Alvarez's two run HR in the next inning. He picked up two more saves leading to final day of the season.

On September 28th, with the Mets needing a victory to clinch a playoff spot, the were shut out by the Marlins in Florida ending their disappointing season. Raley was the losing pitcher of record, putting two men on to start the 4th inning, Ryne Stanek & Tyler Rogers would then come on in the four run Marlins inning. Edward Cabrera & four Marlin relivers combined on the 4-0 shut out.

In 2025 he was 3-1 with ten holds & a 2.45 ERA striking out 25 batters in 25.2 innings while walking six in thirty appearances.

Career Stats: In his eight-year career he is 9-11 with 12 saves, a 3.88 ERA, 278 strike outs & 90 walks in 248.1 innings in 257 career appearances.

Family: Brooks met his wife Rachel Shipley while at Texas A&M. Rachel played for the school's women's soccer team. The two were married in November 2013, together they have four children, three girls & one boy.

Baseball Family: Brooks comes from a baseball family; his father Terry Raley played in the Toronto Blue Jays organization from 1981-1982. Both of his bothers Russell & Cory also played minor league ball.