Phil Maton was a good start, but Mets must find more relief help — and fast
Then-Rays relief pitcher Phil Maton against the Royals during the eighth inning of a game on May 24 in St. Petersburg, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
Do Mets relievers wake up in a cold sweat at night, wondering if they’re going to be next?
Do they look around at the empty chairs in the clubhouse, all serving as relics of the pitchers who haven’t survived the patchwork mélange that’s become the team’s last, most battered line of defense?
Drew Smith? Done for the year. Brooks Raley, too. Sean Reid-Foley is on the injured list, and Wednesday, the team announced that Reed Garrett was also hitting the IL for what Carlos Mendoza termed “forearm and elbow” discomfort, with an MRI to come. In movie parlance, that’s usually akin to a beloved supporting character developing a slight cough in the first 30 minutes, and wasting away from tuberculosis in the last 30.
It’s a spooky place to be, but, for now, an inevitable one. Low-leverage arms have consistently been put in high-leverage situations, and the team is feeling the sting. Which is why Carlos Mendoza’s alchemy during Wednesday’s 6-2 win over the Nationals felt especially sweet.
After Luis Severino went 6 1⁄3 innings, he turned to Jake Diekman — given a four-day respite in an effort to resettle after taking a 5.06 ERA into the day — who managed to strike out two in two-thirds of an inning. He took a risk on Danny Young, who was just called up that afternoon, and closed it out with the best of the fresh arms he had available: Jose Butto, a former starter who came in for 1 1⁄3 innings to collect his first major-league save.
“We asked a few guys to come in in different situations, spots they’re not used to and they got the job done,” Mendoza said. “It hasn’t been easy and these guys continue to show up.”
It’s a start, but even after acquiring Phil Maton from the Rays Tuesday, it’s clear this is all going to be a continuous and formidable challenge. It’s not just going to take Mendoza betting on the right guy at the right time, but a bigger assist from David Stearns — and sooner rather than later.
Before Wednesday’s 2 2⁄3 innings of scoreless relief, the Mets’ bullpen had a 10.50 ERA in July. You might look at that and say the unit is overtaxed. And you’d be right. But maybe not in the typical way.
Mets relievers entered Wednesday having thrown 324 2⁄3 innings this season, which was 18th in the majors. But those numbers change a lot when you consider their situational pitching: The bullpen has thrown an NL-leading 102 2⁄3 “late and close” innings — the seventh inning or later with the game within three runs.
An out-of-the-box approach to those high-leverage innings is good. But consistent exposure to high-stress innings — particularly on arms not accustomed to that role — does have its risks. And it would probably behoove the Mets to mitigate those risks long before the trade deadline, because if they don’t, there might not be much of a skeleton crew left by the time August comes around.
To wit: Mendoza didn’t discount the idea that this might’ve led to Garrett’s injury (Garrett leads the team with 18 late-and-close innings pitched), and that makes fixing things even harder. The pitchers are getting some time off, but they’re also not being put in situations where they’re set up to succeed. Low-leverage arms are thrust into high-leverage situations — a problem exacerbated by Edwin Diaz’s 10-game sticky stuff suspension, and Raley’s inopportune injury.
Garrett was “a guy who, for the first time, is pitching in those situations,” Mendoza said. “Those are some of the conversations that we’re having when we have a guy up or down because of how much they’re pitching.”
Bullpen arms are at a premium this time of year, but it feels likely this team is maybe just one (or two) more pitchers away from stability. Mendoza, for his part, has faith in what they do have back there.
“I have confidence that those guys are going to bounce back,” he said Tuesday after the bullpen allowed five late runs in their 7-5 win.
Maton is a start, and they’ll keep mixing and matching and see if Butto is viable. But if there really is a good-faith evaluation going on about whether to be buyers or sellers at the deadline, there should be a more expansive solution — preferably sooner than later.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.