For the second straight night, questionable bullpen moves and meltdowns from relievers in the eighth inning turned a lead into a loss, with this being a 5-4 setback to the Phillies Monday night in Philadelphia.
The Mets had a 4-0 lead heading into the eighth. Taijuan Walker was sharp in two innings before having to leave with a shoulder issue. David Peterson came on and gave four scoreless innings. He wasn’t as dominating as Walker but he got the job done. He was lifted after 58 pitches.
Buck Showalter opted for Trevor May to pitch the seventh inning. It seems like maybe it would have been better to use Drew Smith in the seventh. But with the Phillies leading off the frame with their fourth and fifth hitters, Showalter believed he needed a high-leverage reliever. May gave up a two-out single but retired the side without much trouble.
With a righty batter to start the eighth inning, Showalter kept his righty reliever in the game, much like he did Sunday with a lefty pitcher to face a lefty batter. And we saw the same result, with the batter reaching base despite the pitcher having the platoon advantage. And to make it worse, May was injured on the pitch and left the game with his future status unknown.
Joely Rodriguez came on to replace May. Rodriguez was sharp in his first outing but this guy is a true lefty specialist who should have his exposure to RHB managed to the extreme. The first batter was a switch-hitter and batting righty promptly delivered a single to put runners on the corners. Rodriguez got the next batter, a lefty, to hit into a fielder’s chose that scored the first run for the Phillies. Rodriguez then served up a two-run homer to righty J.T. Realmuto. After getting lefty Bryce Harper out, Showalter brought in Seth Lugo.
But Lugo didn’t have it. He gave up a walk and back-to-back doubles and what started the inning as a four-run lead ended with a one-run deficit.
Everyone should know my feelings on LOOGYs at this point. The advantage you get with their ability to retire LHB is more than negated by their inability to get RHB out. And it’s only made worse with the 3-batter rule. Chasing the platoon advantage with non-elite hitters is a fool’s game.
If Showalter had been content to use three pitchers for an inning apiece, it would have been hard to have had a worse outcome than what we experienced, both yesterday and today. Smith in the seventh inning with a four-run lead, May in the eighth, hopefully still with a lead and then Lugo to close it out. Maybe Lugo wouldn’t have had it if he entered at the start of the ninth inning, either. But maybe he would have entered the ninth with a four-run lead and had a cushion to work with.
Counting on Rodriguez to retire key RHB in the eighth inning is not a pathway to success. Last year, RHB had an .826 OPS against him and in 2017, it was .923 – that’s terrible.
There was nothing wrong with looking to sell high on Miguel Castro after his solid output a season ago. But the second coming of Scott Rice – a LOOGY who should never face a RHB – isn’t exactly a great return.
Edwin Diaz is likely to be activated from the bereavement list on Tuesday. Hopefully his return will end the matchup masturbation we’ve seen the past two days.
Lugo seemed to have nothing tonight and it was a disappointing loss. We left a lot of runners on which came back to haunt us. It’s only one game so we go back at it tomorrow but now have to beat their ace. We needed one more big reliever in the pen but didn’t get one in the off season. Buck can only play the cards he has. Would Diaz have succeeded in a non save situation. We will see soon. Need to turn the page.
I found myself wondering after the game Sunday, would Showalter have managed this way if it were the playoffs… Well, obviously not as it is terrible managing to burn through guys in April, as we have seen in the past. So, as he tries to pace the team, the myriad of injuries to the pitching staff needs to be addressed. Are pitchers today just jumpy at the first sign of a boo-boo? Do other teams have this much IL activity? How serious are these injuries?
I know I sound insensitive – Jeff Wilpon-like – but Walker gets hurt, so does May. Degrom is hurt, Diaz is mourning…
Peterson did well, I’m proud of him. I have never seen Lugo before “not have it” this much. This is the team that will challenge for the division and it would behoove the Mets not sleep on this Phillies team. The Braves were a nice story last year, but… I can’t see their fairy Godmother turning all those .220 hitters into .300 hitters again this year.
The Braves are well-built and now they have Jansen to close games. The Phillies are stacked and tough. They were pumped to rally back. In both games the failure of the Mets offense to tack on few more runs ,ales the vulnerable bullpen front and center.
Trevor May was never a high leverage guy… a pipe dream. I was hoping they got more for Castro, but now I’m afraid they didn’t… Brian Cashman strikes again. Lugo now hits 97, but still throws the curve as his out pitch… he might have to reinvent himself, but clearly he may not be who we hoped him to be. Billy E needs to get on the phone… Dom Smith needs a new uniform. Taijuan was lights out, I’m bummed.
Met pen very thin on the back end, injuries or not. Mets let Phillies outbid them for Hand, then got weaker trading Acosta for so so lefty.
Bats went to sleep. This was a brutal loss all around. It happens… Let’s see if they make a statement tonight.
The Mets looked bipolar. Things going great, then they turn into the hunchback. To me, Lugo looked like he was throwing with a slightly different motion than in the past. Did anyone notice this or is it my imagination.
In the 9th. Dom looked like he was sleeping in his at bat. Looked like he just woke up.
They went down without a fight. Phillies are a tough team. It will be a long season.
Let’s hope they bounce back after two meltdowns in a row.
Mike, I agree on Lugo. Looked like he had more of a hitch in the middle of his delivery than normal. He kind of had a longer than usual pause in the middle.
Gut Reaction: The LOOGY is obsolete. The Rodriguez /Castro trade was a terrible trade. Rodriguez is only LOOGY, a one dimensional pitcher. Castro had a .583 OPS vs LHB last year.
Peterson looked good. Lugo looked bad. Hand looked good.
The Mets had three 2-out RBI’s. McCann had a head-up stolen base accounting for the 4th run. Smart. Alonso had a good game defensively.
They should’ve won but the bullpen failed.
The disparate treatment between starters and relievers continue to baffle me.
We’re told that starters needed to be handled delicately because of the short spring training.
Yet relievers that you wouldn’t think as long relievers on day 1 are allowed to extend to pitching in two frames and even three frames. We hear all the time how taxing getting up and the sitting down are for relievers, yet here we are doing exactly that to relievers who aren’t used to it right at the start of the season.
I don’t think bullpen arms are being taxed at all. These are grown men who play baseball for a living. If they can’t sit down for ten minutes and then go out and throw again, they are close to worthless. They can.
The simple element here is that the Mets are thin in truly dependable, top-level relievers.
Diaz- mostly, though a head case.
Lugo- mostly though status is falling
May- not a top level reliever
Rodriguez- apparently not at all. Castro was mostly.
Smith- still not
Ottavino- who knows?
Reid-Foley- oh god
Shreve- quite decent
Williams- very good at his role
Peterson- also quite good at his role.
But who among that group do you really feel great about?
for me… maybe only Williams, Shreve, and usually Peterson… and I remember Lugo.
I totally agree with this assessment. Uncle Stevie is the $14 billion dollar man, and he went big splash on Mad Max to declare the 2022 team as a total win now team. Then, he got all Fred and Jeff and pinched pennies on the pen, clearly the weak link. And, the perfect solution was out there – Brad Hand. I’m not saying that because he closed out the Mets last night, I’m saying that because he fit their need to a tee. They needed a lefty that could cross over, they needed a late game arm that could provide some closer insurance without being the top dog, they needed affordability in salary and/or prospect capital. Hand was less than impressive in last year’s stint, but he was the best option out there that checked all the boxes for $6 million or so. This is where the money man had a chance to squash a competitor, and a divisional competitor at that. So, that miss lead to the lousy deal with the Yankees. Acosta was a maddening guy but as the 4th or 5th option he was certainly serviceable. Lugo hasn’t been the guy he was for several years and May doesn’t belong in the game after the 7th inning. This pen is a buzzkill.