Eight different relievers have thrown at least 10 IP for the Mets this year. Of those eight, only two have an ERA under 3.75 when pitching in relief. You probably guessed Seth Lugo, who has a 2.36 mark. The other is Wilmer Font, who’s given up 1 ER in 10 IP for a 0.90 mark.

His three-inning appearance Sunday is the role he should be used in going forward. As stubborn as the Mets are in their belief that they should have one reliever pitch the seventh inning, a different guy pitch the eighth and a third guy pitch the ninth – I’ll be just as stubborn as saying that the way to fix the pen is to have three guys pitch multiple innings while getting multiple days off between appearances.

Running the bullpen the way they have has resulted in a 5.32 ERA in 228.1 IP. It’s time to try a different approach.

28 comments on “Monday catch-all thread (6/17/19)

  • Eraff

    There is a good deal of appropriate “hitting for the pitcher” that would interrupt a multi inning reliever plan…but it has always seemed a crap shoot to pick 3 pitchers in a row who are pitching well on the same day.

    • Brian Joura

      Callaway has not hesitated to use a double-switch when bringing in a reliever. If the Mets do that, and the relief pitcher’s spot in the order comes up after he pitches just one inning, that means the team has scored at least three runs. I’ll gladly take that outcome and live with whatever Callaway decides to do, either let the reliever hit or PH for him.

      If they did this maneuver 100 times, I’d be shocked if this scenario happened five times.

  • Peter Hyatt

    The lineup card this afternoon featured a new lead-off hitter as noted speedster (not), Dom Smith was appointed with jump starting the offense. Mickey Callaway’s reasoning for the lineup change was Smith’s incredible success against Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson.

    “He’s one of our best guys against this pitcher,” said Callaway.

    As it turns out, Smith hadn’t faced Hudson once in his career.

    Daily News.

    Had Smith not gotten two hits…

    • Brian Joura

      If you go throughout baseball history and compare leadoff hitters with little/no speed with high OBP and leadoff hitters with great speed and low OBP — the far, far, far superior leadoff hitters are in the first group.

      • TJ

        Thank you Brian. Rosario’s elite running speed has gotten him on base a whopping 28% of the time. He should be hitting 8th or hitting in Syracuse.

        With the current day focus on HR driving in a higher percentage of overall runs, speed is even less important vs OBP. My leadoff hitter can jog around the bases at Bartolo Colon speed after Alsonso outs one in the 3rd deck.

        • Loge Seats

          I know this may sound ridiculous yet not so vulnerable to outside breaking stuff anymore looking silly, nice improvement in driving ball but I get the feeling that Rosario comes off as being far too self content, and definitely not creative, almost a capitulation when he can not take advantage for a favorable matchup.

      • Peter Hyatt

        My reference was not the choice, but Mickey’s words about his choice.

        It’s from NY Daily News.

    • TexasGusCC

      Peter, Callaway May have included production in the minor leagues? I know that the Mets didn’t hit this guy too much in the past.

      • Peter Hyatt

        Fair point.

        I also wondered if it was an analyst’s error that Mickey trusted.

  • Peter Hyatt

    Strange, but right now, I’d prefer Broadie be fired first over Mickey.

    Would Mickey be different without having to concern himself with Broadie ?

    I don’t know.

    • Loge Seats

      Is Brodie an extension of what ownership wanted?
      Or from whomever would accept the president not being a baseball professional?
      Fred’s strange guidance before the hire on analytics?
      Where would they go from there?
      Is Diaz adjusting to big city pressure, a work in process for Eiland, needs a better setup situation, just not needed to be pinpoint accurate before coming east?

  • Metsense

    Bullpen performance by the Mets and all of baseball has deteriorated. You are right, it is time to a different approach. Next year with the new rule change managers are going to have to change their approach. A smart team will start adjusting now to be ahead of the change. Multiple inning pitchers is the way to go. A relief pitcher only needs to go through the batting order one time and avoid the same batter twice. A proficient reliever should accomplish that in two innings. The League average is just under 6 innings for a starter which means 2 relief pitchers per game. Now that would be the way to run a pitching staff efficiently.

  • TexasGusCC

    Callaway has said that he wants to limit the exposure of a pitcher to have him for consecutive days. He would rather have a pitcher available from the bullpen for three straight days than have him pitch three innings and not be available for three or four days, which he feels it shortens the roster, thus limiting his options.

    • Brian Joura

      In theory, there’s nothing wrong with that POV.

      The problem is that when you become so married to theory that you ignore reality. It’s no different than thinking that lefty relievers were the key to the bullpen. Year after year after year, the Mets used guys who had no business being in the majors simply because they threw with their left hand. And their bullpens blew because of it. And the reality is that the Mets’ bullpen stinks with the way they are using their personnel in short bursts whenever possible.

      We’ve seen this movie before. The next step is thinking that one day off refreshes guys regardless of how much he’s been used earlier. And you end up with five guys who’ve pitched four of the last six days (or more often) and then you wonder how come a guy’s getting lit up because he had the day before off. And there’s no other option available because everyone else is spent, too.

  • Pete

    Can someone here at Mets 360 give me a sensible explanation as to why several Met players were imploring the umpires to remove the tarp and “finish” the game against the Cards when they were leading 4-2 after 8 innings? Shouldn’t it have been the Cardinal players asking for this?

    • TexasGusCC

      They were arrogant that they had the game in the bag and didn’t want to wait in the clubhouse.

      • Peter Hyatt

        With Alonso, his drive to play is palatable.

        This drive or love of the game may pay more tiny dividends over time from enthusiastic extra efforts .

        It’s also why young players need guidance.

        It’s a good problem to have as long as a team has mature leaders who do more than celebrate mediocrity.

  • Chris F

    Although the following tidbit may not register too much. I just got an blip from MLB with updated All Star vote counts.

    It is easy to say, the fans will not vote in any Mets. The closest is Alonso, presently in 5th position, approximately 800,000 votes behind the leader. McNeil is the only OF even on the board, in 20th place in voting.

    Alonso for RoY!!!!

  • David Groveman

    Baty – Signed (assigned to GCL)
    Wolf – Signed (not assigned)
    Allan – Little over $2,000,000 available for signing bonus
    Magnum – Only college player not Signed

    • TexasGusCC

      According to Ehart, Wolf is slightly over slot. So, last I learned, without Wolf at slot, the Mets can go to $2.6 for Allen. At slightly over for Wolf, that number may go down to $2.5. Magnum may want to play hardball, but as a college senior, I can’t see the benefit. Then, the Mets can go 5% of their allotment over (about $430,000) and list pay a penalty of 75% of that. There’s your $3MM to sign Allen.

      • Brian Joura

        Magnum has a tiny bit of leverage here, as the Mets need to sign him to apply the savings from his slot to Allan. The slot for Magnum is $487,900 and I’m sure the Mets want to use at least $400K of that for Allan. But if Magnum stays firm at, say, $100K – what choice do the Mets have?

        Do you want to burn the organization over $25K? This may be the biggest paycheck Magnum ever gets from organized baseball. He shouldn’t just roll over to appease the Mets and their fans.

        • TexasGusCC

          Yes, but he was drafted in the early 30’s in both of the last two drafts. If he gets $50K, I’d be shocked. He knew the deal when he decided to stay in school. It helps that he comes from money so he felt the college experience was worth it.

          He has two choices: They could lose his slot but he won’t play baseball in the United States but rather go overseas to play. I don’t see that from a rich kid. Or, the Mets can say that they took him early to use the slot otherwise he would going in the 30’s again, and will give him $25,000 – $40,000 and an opportunity to pick where he wants to play amongst the rookie leagues. I see the Mets scrounging up $3MM for Allen.

  • MattyMets

    A lot has been written about the volatility of relievers and their fluctuation of success from one season to the next. That said, based on their collective performances of the past few seasons, I thought a bullpen of Diaz-Familia-Wilson-Lugo-Gsellman-Avilan-Smith was poised to be very good. Three of those guys have been injured, one awful, two inconsistent and then there’s Lugo.

    While there have certainly been other issues with this team, this bullpen has really been a major disappointment and perhaps the biggest culprit for our disappointing first half.

  • Pete

    Matty I agree about the pen but… Three injured pitchers who were expected to be keys were out. That’s half so its hard to blame the AAAA pitchers that are on the Syracuse shuttle. How about inconsistent SP’s from Thor, Matz and Wheeler? That’s an unexpected burden on the pen. And I’d like to see Nido catch Thor as well. Just drop Thor to the 3 or 4 spot on the rotation..

  • Eraff

    The Mets are 19th in ERA stacked against all pitching staffs….the Bullpen ERA is 5.38… that’s 27th!!! The Bullpen WHIP is 1.53, also 27th.

    You’ll never forget a bullpen choice that Mickey makes, because it is so often a bad result… any idea that a Mastermind would have a dramatically different result is very far off—you cant make a silk purse of a sow’s ear. All of the good arguments for “woulda-shoulda” have the stench of bad performance.

    Managers are Hired to be Fired…good enuff, but the problem is the Management

  • TexasGusCC

    An excerpt from today’s MLBTR concerning the Mets’ bullpen meltdown:

    “Diaz is still just 25. He’s averaging over 97 mph with his heater and carrying the same spin rates he did in his unreal 2018 effort. While his swinging-strike rate is down a touch from last year, it’s a healthy 17.7%. He’s pounding the zone like he did in 2018. The difference? He has gone from a .281 BABIP-against and 10.6% HR/FB rate to .406 and 19.2%, respectively. Statcast tells us there’s likely some luck in there — Diaz’s .276 xwOBA falls well under his .331 wOBA — but also some cause for concern. Opposing hitters are compiling a whopping 47.8% hard-contact rate and 15.2 degree launch angle. It seems the physical tools are still in good working order, so this may be a matter of finding some adjustments or simply waiting out a spell of misfortune.“

    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/06/mets-bullpen-makeover-fail.html

  • MattyMets

    Gus, that’s a good find. Me, I’m going to continue to beat the same drum and the same dead horse. Why are so many Mets pitchers struggling? What is the common denominator? Wilson Ramos.

    Want a wild prediction? The Mets longest win streak of this season will coincide with Ramos’ inevitable trip to the Injured List.

    • TexasGusCC

      Matt, I posted how each starter does with each catcher last week. Some do better with Ramos, some do better with Nido. To me the problem with the bullpen predates Ramos; it may predate Callaway; it seems that the Mets have crapped on relievers for close to ten years, since Collins came in. I don’t know what the answer is, but I cant blame a guy that was successful before and has success working with some of the pitchers. For example, TDA is being lauded in Tampa for his fine work. What is wrong with that to those of us that saw him everyday for so many years? Why did Mesoraco impress us soooooo much? He wasn’t that big a deal, but our teaching structure sucks. Players can’t run bases, catchers can’t call games, coaches lose their intelligence (i.e.: Gary DiSarcina) when they get here….

      Every new mouth piece talks about changing the culture when they get hired by these owners that believe in Band-Aids on a break. However, culture doesn’t change at the MLB level, it needs to change starting at the Rookie level! How can this team create a structure when the person running the show seems either outdated or hamstrung, or maybe incapable?

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