Luis Rojas played matchups straight down the line in the 10th inning and it didn’t work on offense and it didn’t work on defense. The end result was a 2-1 loss to the Marlins in Miami.
With a righty on the mound, Rojas used Luis Guillorme to pinch hit for Kevin Pillar, who’s been a dangerous late-inning hitter for the Mets here recently. That move would have been okay in a vacuum. The problem is that when it quasi-worked – Guillorme drew a walk – Rojas again went to a lefty pinch hitter, this time yanking James McCann for Patrick Mazeika.
This is a good time to point out that not only does Mazeika blow, he’s also in the middle of an 0-10 stretch. You’ll be shocked, shocked I say, to hear that Mazeika grounded out weakly to the pitcher.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Marlins had a runner on third and one out, with Bryan De La Cruz, at this point the Marlins’ best hitter, due up. But because Edwin Diaz would have the platoon advantage against De La Cruz – and not with the next batter Lewin Diaz – Rojas opted to have Diaz face the righty.
The Marlins’ best hitter smoked a ball off the wall in CF for the game-winning hit. Diaz, 0-4 on the night and with a Mazeikian .505 OPS on the year, never got the chance to be the automatic out and a trip to the 11th inning that he should have been.
It was so bad that even Gary Cohen was crucifying Rojas for the decision.
The Mets were handcuffed most of the night by Sandy Alcantara, who allowed just a Michael Conforto solo homer in nine innings of work. A lot of times it’s frustrating because the Mets blow a lot of chances to score runs. Not this night, as Alcantara just toyed with them most of the game.
Rich Hill allowed 1 R in 6 IP and gave the Mets everything they could have hoped for in the game. If only we could say that about the manager.
I was thinking this last week:
Do they need to wait until after the season to fire Rojas? I mean, he can be reassigned next year if he wants, seeing how he wasn’t supposed to be the manager in the first place, but what are they waiting for? Why does he have to be given a chance to finish the season? But, who would take over?
Rojas a great guy. So was Ray Handley. So was Rich Kotite. So was George Bamburger and Frank Thomas. The Mets don’t need a nice guy that is in over his head, they need a leader. I know it sounds like sour grapes and yesterday they scored nine runs, but winning when everything is falling in is easy. Winning when you need to find a way is much harder.
The last statement is exactly right. Rojas cannot win games. I don’t even fault the Mazeika move, and certainly not the Guillorme move. But I hate that Rich Hill throws fat strikes at 0-2, twice, and it literally cost the team a game. Oh, and of course you walk De La Cruz…
Blew a chance at picking up crucial ground. Rojas is over his head.
Gut Reaction: Alcantara was totally dominant but thanks to Conforto they managed to be tied after nine innings. A winning team manages to pull out the win, especially against an inferior team. Rojas moves in the tenth were very questionable. Pillar had some key hits lately and McCann is a better batter than Mazeika and a better defensive catcher and a stabilizing influence for the bottom of the inning. Pitching to De LA Cruz made no sense at all.
The Mets are now 1-11 in 12 1 run games since August 13th. Per Mets Analytics.
The Mets are now overall 27-28 in 1 run games, so you could they were very lucky prior to August 13th and this was just a regression to the mean.
But yea it sucks to be so close in all these games and come out on the wrong side on nearly all of them.
One-run game stats???????
See below
Alcantara was filthy. These things happen over the course of 162, but teams that are on the fringe of a playoff race simply can’t afford any losses.
The offense failed to get the free runner in, which is inexcusable. Diaz blew another one, beaten by a rookie on a horrific strategic call by the manager. Frankly, Diaz would have blown the game earlier on a throw to first had it not been for a spectacular defensive play by Baez.
Rojas must go. His in game decisions are awful. Of course you walk the Marlin’s hottest hitter with a base open and it was two outs I believe and not one. The ball should have been caught with a better effort in CF. There is no playing the carom on this play, you have to go after it. Nimmo or Pillar would have hit the wall trying. You need to let McCann hit, not Mazieka who will be lucky to be at AAA next year. Rich Hill again did what we wanted him to do. And yes we ran into a greatly pitched game against us. That’s how teams must have felt when Jake took the mound. Good teams win those games. We lost no ground just a day off the schedule. Back at it today.
They wont pick up Rojas’ 22 option because they will have a new GM. The new GM will want to pick their own manager.
OPS vs RHP
Mazeika .570, McCann .597, Pillar .697, Guillorme .761, Davis .922, Baez .753
De LA Cruz .761 Diaz .505
Analytics doesn’t support Rojas’ tenth inning moves. Common sense doesn’t support it either.
Personally, I tend to have patience with managerial decisions, as throughout a season there are tons of “debatable calls” that don’t work out and cause dismay after the fact. This has happened to every manager ever to suit up, including managers in the HOF.
But…Luis has not acquitted himself well late in recent games. The two moves Metsense points out – PH Mazeika for McCann and pitching to de la Cruz – were really really bad moves in absolutely crucial moments in the game and season, despite the explanation. As stated, they were really really bad because the did not pass either the numbers test, the eyes test, or common sense.
Yes, playing “matchups” and “trusting” Edwin Diaz sounded lame in Rojas’s post-game answers.
Time to get a manager about whom we feel good. Personally, the last time I was pleased with the Mets manager was around 1990 with Davey Johnson. Three decades ago!