After not pitching in the first two playoff series, Danny Young made his 2024 postseason debut and faced the top of the Dodgers’ order. He retired Shohei Ohtani on a deep fly to center, got Mookie Betts on a grounder to second and set down Freddie Freeman on a ball to first. Now, this was a low-leverage spot, as the Mets trailed, 6-0, at the time. Still, it was a pretty good outing for a guy who hadn’t pitched in two weeks.
Does this move Young from forgotten man into Carlos Mendoza‘s reliever circle of trust? Should it? Ryne Stanek has moved up in the pecking order and has rewarded Mendoza with 5.2 IP and 1 ER here in the postseason. But people will say that Stanek had previous playoff experience, which is different from Young.
My guess is that there will come another spot where Mendoza will have the opportunity to use Young. Obviously, David Peterson is the first choice. But will Mendoza use Peterson in back-to-back games? Should he?
Buck Showalter did a great job in not abusing his relievers. We’ve seen Mendoza not quite display the same restraint in this department. To be clear, it’s not like Mendoza is horrible in this way. But he did use Phil Maton in three straight games and Maton hasn’t been the same. Starting with that third outing, Maton has allowed 6 ER in 4.1 IP in his last five games. He’s gone from essentially the club’s eighth-inning man to a guy you don’t want to see when the game’s on the line.
It’s my opinion that Mendoza needs to avoid burning out Peterson the way he did with Maton. There’s a chance that Young could help make that happen. Or Mendoza could look to go with his best relievers, rather than play matchups with the lefty hitters for the Dodgers.
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NLCS G3 is tonight at 8:08 p.m. Join us in the Game Chatter at https://substack.com/chat/1934025/post/fa112d4d-9be5-43ac-9699-53713501dcd8
Useing Danny Young in a low leverage situation is fine. In a high pressure, just because of the lefty/lefty match up, isn’t fine.
It will be interesting how Mendoza uses Peterson going forward in the series. If Senga start Game #5 then how much can Peterson pitch in Games 4 or 3 if Mendoza plans on using like Game #1 ? Mendoza has a propensity of burning out relief pitchers.
The Mets needed a relief pitcher instead of a infielder when they selected the playoff roster.
Ottavino or Acuna? They’re the 26th guys on the roster! Does it matter?
Still waiting to see Jeff McNeil in the starting lineup. I think Iggy has been a great addition to the team both on and off the field. And yes, he has certainly had some timely hits down the line. But he certainly is not hitting now and when facing a right hand, why not get McNeil in. I know there are some that would make the same case for taking Alvarez out of the lineup and replace them with Torrens. However, you can’t minimize the job that Alvarez has done behind the plate and handling the pitching staff, of whom I believe would rather be throwing to him.
The fact that they don’t have any lefty in the pen, besides Young and Peterson is the fault of David Stearns. I would rather keep Peterson out in case they need a starting pitcher because he was lights out in his last several starts. I would not insert Young in the game unless the game was well out of hand as he is just not proven himself this year. On the other hand, as mentioned, Stan has really moved up the charts and done what they thought he would do when they got him.
How great would it be to take game three and put all the pressure back on the Dodgers. Let’s have a great chat tonight. LGM
Very surprised to see Iglesias in the lineup tonight instead of McNeil.
At this point, with McNeil active and not starting in any games even though there were three right handed starters going – so that eliminates the simple “matchups” answer – one has to ask how Mendoza feels about McNeil and what does that bode for McNeil being on this team in 2025.
Very surprised to see Martinez in the lineup instead of Winker.
Mendoza has made it clear the team will sink or swim with the core players. Which means, he considers Inglesias more of a core player than McNeil, and which also means he isn’t willing to manage. Kind of reminds me of a coach that left a player in the game to go 1-19 from three point range and lose game 7 of the NBA Finals because ‘that’s who got him there’, and that was one of the best coaches ever! So……. It seems sometimes the Mets win in spite of Mendoza, and sometimes because of Mendoza. ♂️
What the hell is that symbol from?
John Starks 1994?
Yeah, this face of Mendoza managing is simply not good. There has to be some balance between going all out nutty post season managing and forgetting its the post season.
The fact is Alvarez, Iglesias, and Martinez are 0-fer out machines. Alvarez is also showing his immaturity in making bad decisions throwing, a habit he seems to have no penchant of breaking. Sometimes, a lot of times, less is more, and he’s trying to do more than more, which is costing the team runs and games. His ABs are agonizing to watch, worst of the team. Mendoza is too little of a hard-ass to address the Alvarez problem.
Well, then he would have to address the Diaz “not wanting to hold runners” fiasco. The Mets are becoming an asylum.