I wish the Mets would manage their bullpen looking for ways to get Trevor Williams into the game rather than Joely Rodriguez.
The Mets battled back to make it a one-run game but Rodriguez gave up a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach, giving the Marlins a 6-3 win over the Mets Friday night in Miami.
Twice the Mets had a runner on third base with one out, only to hit into inning-ending double plays. In the third inning there were runners on first and third and in the seventh inning the bases were loaded. The club’s inability to plate any runs in either of those situations was a killer.
Just as much of a killer was the decision to bring Rodriguez, the man with an ERA pushing 5.00 and a negative WPA, into a one-run game, especially given the fact that he wasn’t due to face a lefty. The first batter hits a single and after an out, the next batter homers. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Rodriguez walked the next two batters to force the Mets to bring in Edwin Diaz.
As Gary Cohen pointed out during the game – if you were willing to use Diaz in the eighth inning, why not start out the inning with him? Struggling to find an answer, Cohen mused that the Mets must have been afraid of a 30-pitch inning from Diaz, making him unavailable for tomorrow.
Name pointed out in the chatter that Diaz hadn’t had a 30-pitch inning since May 19, a stretch of 36 games. So, it wasn’t anything really to be overly worried about. And you know what – if he makes it to 20 pitches, things have probably gotten out of hand. And that’s the time to bring in Rodriguez – not when the game is still close.
David Peterson put the Mets in an early hole, allowing a two-run homer in the first inning and another run in the fourth. Buck Showalter came out with an early hook for Peterson. But instead of going to his long man Williams (who hadn’t pitched since Sunday) in the fourth inning, he went to first Hunter and then to Mychal Givens.
Showalter could have gone to one of his primary setup men in the eighth inning. He could have gone to Diaz. He could have gone to Williams or Bryce Montes de Oca. Instead, he went to Rodriguez. The announcers said the wind went out of the Mets’ sails after Rodriguez gives up the homer.
There’s no guarantee that the Mets would have scored in the ninth inning if their reliever had held the fort in the eighth. Perhaps this game was just destined to end up in the loss column. But it was beyond frustrating to see Rodriguez brought into a close game. Here’s hoping we don’t see that type of move again for the rest of the season.
Brandon Nimmo had an RBI single in the third inning. In the sixth, Nimmo walked and scored on a home run by Pete Alonso. The HR had an exit velocity of 116 mph and went 406 feet. Hopefully, that’s an indication that Alonso is ready to break out here down the stretch.
Gut Reaction : This was a frustrating loss. There were 2 opportunities in the game that were wasted. In a pennant race, I don’t want to see Rodriguez pitching in a close game. (For that matter, I don’t want to see Monte de Oca in those situations either). Williams should be used for at least every 5 days for multiple innings to reduce the potential stress to the bullpen. Williams is a good pitcher and last night was an ideal time to use him. Now they have to win these two remaining games in Miami. LGM
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Also, I think Showalter overmanages the bullpen.
We can’t keep playing like this and losing to bad teams. Now we are in second place. The double play with the bases loaded was painful. Hurt again by the weak link in the bullpen.
Have to rebound today and tomorrow.
At least Givens seems to be leveling out and pitching better. He scares me when he comes in but Buck likes him for whatever reason based on their past affiliation. Would have rather kept Castro and not traded for Rodriquez but that’s water under the bridge. Hard to criticize Buck too much on pen use given the unreliability of the staff. No one other than Diaz is lights out. There will be big changes for next year in the BP. It will be reshaped for the playoffs with Megill going in and one or more of their starters but winning the division is still critical.
Last night we finally pounded the ball against this crappy Marlins team and hope we continue today. Thanks to Seattle for finally cooling off the Braves. Hope that continues this afternoon.
Coming into this season, Givens had a 131 ERA+ in 396.1 IP. He’s been a quality reliever for seven years prior to this season. Then, he has a 2.66 ERA (159 ERA+) in 40.2 IP with the Cubs before the trade. I know that what matters most is what we see happen. But everything in his career was shouting that this was a bad stretch that he would recover from. There’s no reason for anyone to be scared of him and he’s going to be a fine fourth reliever in the playoffs.
Ottavino has been great all year and Lugo has been lights out in his last 39.2 IP since the mechanical tweak took hold.