Max Kranick latest Mets pitcher to head to injured list

ATLANTA – Despite recent struggles, Mets pitching still entered Thursday’s game against Atlanta leading the league in ERA. Due to recent struggles, it also felt like Mets pitching entered Thursday’s game against Atlanta leading the league in MRIs.

After losing Kodai Senga to a hamstring strain last week and Tylor Megill to an elbow sprain Tuesday, the Mets Thursday announced that right-handed reliever Max Kranick joined both on the 15-day injured list due to a strain in his pitching elbow. Kranick, who experienced discomfort when he last pitched Sunday, was sent to New York to get an MRI Thursday afternoon, Carlos Mendoza said.

Righties Justin Hagenman and Dedniel Nunez were called up from Triple-A Syracuse; reliever Ty Adcock was demoted.

“He got treatment yesterday, he played catch, got on the mound and he was still feeling something very similar to what Megill was experiencing on the secondary pitches,” Mendoza said of Kranick. “Obviously, he’s already had one (Tommy John surgery in 2022), but talking to him, talking to the trainers, he doesn’t think this was something too serious. But we’ve got to wait and see what the MRI shows.”

The flurry of injuries has hurled the Mets’ pitching framework into chaos.

To wit, Frankie Montas (lat) finished his rehab assignment with another rough start with Triple-A Syracuse Wednesday, but nonetheless is expected to join the rotation despite pitching to a 12.05 ERA in six minor-league starts.

“Look, we need starters here,” Mendoza said. “We signed him to be a starter for this team and we’re going to give him a chance.”

But there’s so much more.

Before the game Thursday, Mendoza still wasn’t sure who Friday’s starter would be in Philadelphia – Hagenman, who served as a bulk man in his only other major-league appearance earlier this year, was a possibility, but only if the Mets weren’t forced to use him later that evening. Paul Blackburn filled in for Senga Wednesday, and was touched up for four runs (three earned) in 3 2/3 innings.

Barring setback, Sean Manaea (oblique) probably is still about two weeks away from a return and will start for Syracuse Friday. The best-case scenario for Senga and Megill’s returns, meanwhile, is four weeks.

Thursday’s starter, Clay Holmes, has already pitched more major-league innings this season than he has at any other point in his career. After posting a season-low 2.36 ERA as of May 11, Griffin Canning has compiled a 6.08 ERA in his last six starts. Going into Thursday, they had used five relievers over the last few days, and were entering Game 3 of a 13-game stretch, seven more of which are against divisional opponents in Atlanta and the Phillies. And despite their 3.00 ERA, they’ve posted a 5.64 ERA over the previous five games, third-worst in baseball.

(David Peterson remains fine.)

And then, again, there’s that Montas conundrum.

Montas, who signed a two-year, $34 million contract, has yet to pitch in a major-league game this season, and his rehab outings have been highly troublesome: He’s allowed 25 earned runs over 18 2/3 innings, with eight homers, 10 walks and 12 strikeouts. Montas said Saturday that he was having trouble with his mechanics, particularly his arm slot; he's been working with pitching coach Jeremy Hefner to rectify the problem.

Last week, Mendoza said they were considering using Montas in a bullpen role. As late as Wednesday, Mendoza said they still had to decide whether to activate him, or if his struggles indicated further injury. By Thursday, it appears 1. Montas is healthy enough to pitch and 2. They don’t have much of a choice on how he’s used.

“We feel like mechanically, he’s getting there,” Mendoza said, adding that Montas likely will start during their four-game set against Atlanta at home next week, but will be on a limited pitch count. “I’m not going to lie. He got hit. He got hit around, but we’ve seen it before where guys in spring training struggle and they get hit around and once you put them in a big-league game under the lights and you game plan and you make adjustments, they flip the switch. He’s had success before at this level, so hopefully, that’s the case here.”

Hagenman, meanwhile, pitched well in his one appearance in April, allowing one earned run in 3 1/3 innings, but has been batted around in Triple-A - a 6.21 ERA over 33 1/3 innings.

Nunez, a key cog in the Mets bullpen before going down with a forearm strain last year, pitched his way out of a major-league job earlier this year, posting a 7.36 ERA with six walks in 3 2/3 innings over five appearances. He’s looked better in the minors, and carried a 3.79 ERA in Triple-A, but averaging 5.2 walks over nine innings.

“He’s a guy that when he gets ahead, then he’s able to use that slider, the secondary pitches and we felt like the last couple of outings, he did that,” Mendoza said of Nunez, who had a 2.83 ERA with the Mets last year. “He’s getting another chance. We all know how important he was for our bullpen last year and we’re hoping we can unlock some of that at this level.”

Notes & quotes

Juan Soto collected his 1,000th career hit in the first inning Thursday, a single...Brett Baty (groin) was out of the starting lineup for the third straight day but said he felt better while sprinting and doing change direction drills Thursday.

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.