The Mets have made 10 pitching changes the past two days, leaving the bullpen in a bit of a tough spot for Tuesday’s game. But the good news is if the Mets can navigate the games Tuesday and Wednesday, they’ll play just two games in the following five days. Along with the expected return of Edwin Diaz once he’s eligible to be activated on June 11, the Mets have a chance to essentially start anew with their relievers. Here’s a little cheat sheet for Carlos Mendoza to use with his pen once the Mets return from London:
Diaz – The club may not want to use him as a closer as soon as he returns but he should be looked to move back to that role sooner rather than later. All relievers go thru a rough patch and hopefully Diaz has gotten his out of the way early.
Jake Diekman – While he’s a veteran, he’s not very good. RHB have an .848 OPS against him, his road ERA is 6.00 and in 29 PA that B-R classifies as high leverage, opponents have a 1.046 OPS. He’s good to use in the old LOOGY role but other than that, he’s last-arm-in-the-pen material and the Mets should plan on moving on from him in the near future.
Reed Garrett – He was electric to start the year then had an 8-game stretch where he allowed 9 ER in 8 IP. Last time out was a clean inning. They may need to use him as a short man until Diaz is ready to return to the closer’s role. But he offers flexibility that the club will need to use moving forward.
Adrian Houser – He’s being used perfectly right now as a bulk reliever.
Dedniel Nunez – He may lose his spot once Diaz returns but until then, they need him to give more than an inning per appearance.
Adam Ottavino – Club should bend over backwards not to use in back-to-back games.
Sean Reid-Foley – A multi-inning reliever who may need to be utilized as a short man here in the immediate term.
Drew Smith – Ideally, he’d be a low-leverage reliever. But the Mets need him to get more important outs that that. He’s survived a high walk rate because he hasn’t given up a homer yet. But with a 1.4 HR/9 over the 2021-23 seasons, you know those gopher balls are coming. Mendoza should look to limit his work in the eighth inning or later.
Danny Young – He may also draw the short stick once Diaz returns but his unique delivery may keep him around longer. There’s not much MLB experience here but when given the chance, he’s been solid. Young actually has a lower OPS allowed versus RHB. Still a good idea to limit him to an inning at a time for the most part, though.
*****,
If they put me in charge, Jose Quintana would be moved to the pen, joining Houser and Reid-Foley – and potentially Garrett – as long relievers. Diekman and Nunez would be removed from the roster. Diaz, Ottavino, Smith and Young would be the typical short relievers. Garrett is sort of a wild card and circumstances will dictate his usage.
Meanwhile, the starting pitchers would be put on notice that the expectation is that they pitch at least six innings each time out. Any pitcher failing to meet that multiple times can expect to be dropped from the rotation. Quintana and his 5.17 ERA follows Houser to the pen but none of the SP should feel safe.
It’s pretty simple – find a way to win the next 2 in DC…I’ll recommend double digit run production each game…reset via London by taking the next 8 straight…head to Texas after Father’s Day game at .500 with new outlook on 2024.
If you were in charge Brian, then the bullpen would be better with your ideas. I hope that Stearns trades some of their free agent starting pitchers before the deadline so that Butto and Scott can be promoted,
My only quibble is that I would keep Nunez around however necessary. His stuff looks legit and he s been making hitters look silly.
Nunez does look interesting. I’d try to get a longer look before demoting.
Nice recent outings from Megill and Peterson. Now when can we see Butto and Lucchesi again? These should be the four mainstays in the rotation at some point and likely will after some trade deadline moves. Bullpen moves can be brilliant and seamless when they work, or disastrous when the strike zone becomes elusive or pitches find too much plate. So while it is easy to criticize Mendoza for running out too many relievers, if they did their jobs we would be applauding the moves. It is, as you point out, time to stop babying these pitchers with pitch counts deciding when they come out.