The Reemergance of Eric Reyzelman

Anashe Mapuranga
36 minutes ago
3 min read

Entering the 2025 season, there was a belief that Eric Reyzelman could make an impact in the big league bullpen after a stellar year, where he posted a 1.16 ERA in 38.2 IP with a 40.9% K rate across three levels. However, a down season in AAA saw his K% crater, his BB% shoot up, his ERA balloon to 6.04 ERA, and his overall stuff declined. This led to the former 5th round pick getting sent back to AA to start this season.

Reyzelman has reclaimed his former glory to begin the year. While the ERA is elevated at a 3.95, it isn’t the best indicator of his success. Between the underlying data and renewed stuff, there’s plenty to suggest the righty flamethrower is back.

If we begin by taking a look at the underlying metrics for Reyzelman, they show an incredibly strong start to the season. In 13.2 IP this season, Reyzelman has a gargantuan 46.3% K rate.

To put into perspective how elite this clip is, only Mason Miller surpasses him in strikeout rate at the MLB level among qualified relievers. He’s getting elite swing and miss numbers as shown by his whiff and swinging strike rates, while getting above average chase too.

Secondly, unlike previous years in Reyzelman’s career, he’s doing this while only registering a much improved 7.4% BB rate. The LSU product had always dealt with walk issues, having never posted a BB% below 12.3% in a season previously. This has allowed him to also have a 38.9% K-BB rate, again only surpassed by Miller at the MLB level. This newfound success in command has made Reyzelman an even deadlier arm than before as he’s giving significantly less free passes to hitters at the plate.These metrics have all helped lead to a 2.22 FIP, showing that Reyzelman has gotten severely unlucky and that his ERA should be better than it currently is.

Lastly, we’ve seen an uptick in stuff primarily in the fastball from Reyzelman after decline last year. The righty reliever in the past typically threw 96-97 MPH with his fastball, while touching 99 MPH and found great success. However, he lost multiple ticks in velocity in 2025, only averaging 94 MPH and it led to the pitch being largely ineffective for him, another reason for his struggles in AAA.

Reyzelman recently reflected on those struggles, noting that the decline was more physical than tactical. "I was throwing through a lot of pain last year," Reyzelman said. "Got hurt pretty early but tried to push through with how close I felt I was to the big leagues when I should have gotten it taken care of earlier. But it’s all in the past and I learned from it, healthiest I’ve ever been now!"

That health is showing up on the radar gun and the box score. This season, we’ve seen Reyzelman regain the velocity he lost and the fastball touching as high as 99.6 MPH in outings this year and finding great effectiveness once more.

The season Reyzelman has had so far has helped him reclaim prospect pedigree he lost last year. With the dominance he’s displayed at AA this year he’s more than deserving of a promotion to AAA again, where if he continues this high level of play, could make a name for himself to contribute in the Bronx.

Every Prospect. Every Level. Every Day.