Bullpen's struggles undermining brilliant Mets rotation
Mets relief pitcher Seth Lugo reacts after Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Sergio Alcantara hit a two-run home run during the seventh inning of an MLB baseball game at Citi Field on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Here’s one final thought after watching Mark Melancon finish off the Mets in the ninth inning of Saturday’s 3-2 loss at Citi Field.
How soon can general manager Billy Eppler get him to Flushing full-time?
We’re not suggesting a deal should happen tomorrow. Melancon is only one example of a reliever who could end up on the Mets’ shopping list, and a Diamondbacks team that’s built for a 100-loss season isn’t going to need a $14-million closer (he’s signed through 2023). Watching Melancon mow through the Mets on 13 pitches — whiffing Robinson Cano and Dom Smith — was a stark contrast to seeing Seth Lugo serve up a two-run homer to the No. 8 hitter Sergio Alcantara in what had been a scoreless game in the seventh.
Lugo is supposed to be this bullpen’s most reliable high-leverage weapon, but he’s now severely hurt the Mets in two of his last three appearances, including his role as the prime saboteur in Monday’s ugly loss at Philly. And nine games into the season isn’t too early to be concerned about what could be the most vulnerable part of the currently first-place Mets, especially if Lugo doesn’t regain his shutdown stature on a more consistent basis.
“We’ve been spoiled by him for a long time here,” said Buck Showalter, who’s obviously going on reputation more than firsthand experience. “He’s pitched in very meaningful innings for us already this year. He will again.”
This 8.31 ERA version of Lugo is not a very trustworthy reliever at the moment, and that 93-mph sinker to Alcantara, who came in with six career homers in 106 major-league games, was teed up perfectly in the exact middle of the strike zone. Lugo also gave up an RBI double to Ketel Marte, who pulled a grounder down the rightfield line, and that ended up being the difference when the Mets’ comeback fizzled after Starling Marte’s two-run homer in the eighth.
“I felt like I made some good pitches, and just left one over the middle there,” Lugo said. “But overall I felt good. Get 'em next time.”
Health is typically the biggest worry for Lugo. And if he’s structurally sound, history points to him stabilizing sooner rather than later. While Lugo’s performance was another red flag, the Mets were somewhat encouraged by getting Trevor May into Saturday’s game. He allowed only a two-out single to DH Seth Beer in the eighth, his fastball averaged 96 mph, and later May reported no issues with the low-grade triceps strain that forced him to leave Monday’s loss to the Phillies.
“Just working through some recurring soreness,” May said. “I feel good where my stuff is at. I don’t anticipate any issues. I’m happy with the progress.”
May described the triceps matter as more of a maintenance situation, a familiar trouble spot that pops up occasionally over the course of a long season. In this case, the condensed spring schedule might have accelerated the problem earlier than usual.
I’m old enough to remember when Edwin Diaz was the scariest part of the Mets’ relief corps. But it’s the bridge to him that’s had some sketchy spots these days, and threatens to squander the outstanding job done by the rotation to date. The Mets got another solid effort Saturday from Carlos Carrasco, who struck out eight over five scoreless innings, and overall the starters now have an MLB-best 1.17 ERA with a 0.72 WHIP. Opponents are hitting just .155 against them.
“It’s really good,” Carrasco said of the rotation, “and it’s going to be like this all year.”
The Mets have overcome the loss of Jacob deGrom for for the first week-plus of the season, but they can’t make a habit of flushing these high-leverage opportunities, particularly against lousy opponents. Their first loss in D.C. came on April 10 when Showalter chose to go with Trevor Williams to protect a one-run lead with six outs to go and got burned. A day later in Philly, May got injured and Lugo was torched as the Mets blew a four-run lead in the eighth.
Lugo took the fall again Saturday, pushing the bullpen’s ERA up to 4.64 — which ranks 25th — to go with a 1.39 WHIP and .244 OBA. It’s true the Mets never led in this game, or even put a runner in scoring position. That’s hardly a formula for success. But there was a window there, and it’s the bullpen’s responsibility to keep it open as long as possible.
The rotation has been doing their part, even with David Peterson now taking the injured Taijaun Walker’s spot for Sunday’s series finale. But that’s only half of the job in this era.
“I’m a huge fan of starting pitching,” May said. “That’s a pretty good indication of how good your team is.”
The Mets expect to be great this season, and they’ve built some (very) early momentum. They just need the bullpen to keep up. Or import more arms along the way to make it better.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
