Mets' Carlos Mendoza loosening the reins with team's strict bullpen usage
Mets relief pitcher Edwin Diaz gestures as he walks to the dugout after the top of the ninth inning against the Athletics in an MLB game at Citi Field on Aug. 13. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
SAN DIEGO — For months, the Mets have abided by a strict set of rules governing their reliever usage, occasionally sacrificing today for a hoped-for healthy and productive tomorrow.
If a guy pitched consecutive days? Near-automatic day off. Or three out of four days? Pretty much the same. In a six-month marathon of a season, manager Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner have prioritized protecting a player over the team’s needs in a given game.
But now that the Mets are entering now-or-never crunch time — just a month-plus to try to make the playoffs — those rules naturally will become more flexible, Mendoza said. It’s time to push.
“We protected these guys for a long time now,” he said Thursday, before the Mets opened a key four-game series against the Padres. “We’re in a position where we have to go.”
Chief among the Mets’ options: closer Edwin Diaz, who after struggling early this season has a 1.06 ERA since returning from the injured list in mid-June.
But because of the missed time, as well as the Mets’ less frequent wins in recent weeks, he hasn’t pitched a ton.
He entered Thursday with 37 innings in 37 appearances. That’s only three-quarters of his workload to this point in 2022 and 2021 (though last year he didn’t pitch at all because of a major knee injury suffered in March).
Might that mean Diaz has more innings in his arm down the stretch, allowing the Mets to lean on him to an extra degree?
“Yeah, potentially,” Mendoza said. “He could be one of those guys we could use a few days in a row if he’s feeling well. It all depends on how they’re bouncing back and how they’re feeling.”
Diaz said: “I’m OK with [strict workload guidelines] earlier in the season because we’re building ourselves to be in this position right now . . . As of right now, if I have to go three days in a row, I will be OK.”
Jose Butto’s status, conversely, is less clear. A starting pitcher his entire career until the Mets stuck him in the bullpen in early July, Butto quickly emerged as their best non-Diaz reliever.
But because the role is so new to the righthander, they have been eminently careful to not overuse him. This week marked just his second time pitching twice in three days — never mind consecutive days or three out of four.
Butto’s comfort in coming out of the bullpen has grown in recent weeks, but the Mets don’t want to burden him with too much too fast.
“We have to be mindful and protect him because it’s a different role for him,” Mendoza said.
And then there is Dedniel Nunez, who is due to rejoin the team Friday after missing almost a month with a right forearm strain. He quickly ascended from fringe minor-leaguer to key major-league reliever — 2.43 ERA, 45 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings — and figures to be a bullpen boost upon returning.
“There’s a reason why we protected these guys throughout the year,” Mendoza said. “There’s going to be some cases where we’re still going to have to protect some of the guys here. And there’s some guys we’re probably going to be pushing if they’re feeling good. So the conversations day in and day out are going to be important. If the situation presents and they’re ready to go, we’ll use them and we’ll push them.”
Pushing over protecting is fine by Diaz.
“I tell them always: If you need me earlier than the ninth, I will be ready to come into the game in any situation you need me,” he said. “I sit down in the bullpen and wait for the call.”
Scott nears next step
Christian Scott’s throwing program has continued in a normal, uneventful way, which is exactly what he and the Mets want in his attempted comeback from a sprained elbow ligament.
The next big step: throwing off a mound, which Scott said he hopes to do in the first half of next week.
“He’s throwing with intensity,” Mendoza said. “He got up to 110 (feet Wednesday) and threw some changeups. He’s letting it loose. So he’s progressing well. We’ll see where we’re at in the upcoming days too.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
