As Mets' playoff countdown begins, pitching staff will be counted on more than ever
Tylor Megill of the Mets pitches during the first inning against the Nationals at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
As Francisco Lindor’s back-related absence from the starting lineup moved into a second consecutive day — and the Mets not providing much of an update — maybe the team’s coping mechanism should be viewed in a different light.
Increasingly, and especially in this month of September, it’s becoming evident the Mets don’t have someone ready to shoulder the load from an offensive standpoint. And as manager Carlos Mendoza said the other day, it’s not like they can wait around for that to happen.
The alternative? If you can’t score runs, you better be able to prevent them, and the latter is what the Mets have done consistently well lately, particularly when it comes to the rotation. Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Nationals, Mets starters had the second-best ERA (2.03) in the majors since Sept. 1, a span of 14 games, and their 87 strikeouts were tops.
At a time when the Mets need some heroes, their starters should be wearing capes. Sean Manaea has a 1.98 in four September starts. Jose Quintana has not allowed an earned run in his two starts this month (13 2/3 innings). Luis Severino has a 2.29 ERA in his three starts and David Peterson is at 3.00, which is actually inflated due to one big inning (four runs) in Toronto.
Even Tuesday night’s starter Tylor Megill, a late-season sub for injured deadline import Paul Blackburn, has a 2.35 ERA in three starts since his Aug. 30 recall from Triple-A Syracuse.
Another big bonus: The rotation also leads MLB with 88 2/3 innings pitched during that stretch, which gives them a 6.3 average. Mendoza’s starters have been so effective, so deep into games, that the manager was complaining Tuesday — tongue in cheek, of course — that he can’t find enough work for his relief corps.
“They’ve been huge,” Mendoza said. “Part of the reason we’re here, in this situation, is because of our starting pitching. It’s been hard for us to score runs at times and we’re winning some close games. I’m looking at our bullpen usage, and there’s a few guys there that haven’t pitched in five, six days.
“So credit to the whole group. It’s a good feeling when you know what you’re going to get out of your starters every night.”
Starters such as Manaea, the staff’s de facto ace has almost single-handedly kept them afloat in games when most of their lineup does less than Grimace. Monday’s 2-1 victory, which required 10 innings, was another perfect example. The Mets had only two hits, three baserunners and zero runs through seven innings — the continuation of an alarming trend this month. But Manaea squeezed the Nats on the other side, limiting them to one run, four hits and one walk with six strikeouts through seven.
Manaea has pitched six or more innings in seven straight starts, and completed seven or more eight times — all of them since July 2, the most in the majors during that period. He also has a 2.69 ERA over his last 18 starts dating to June 14, holding opposing hitters to a .173 average while allowing three runs or fewer in 16 of those.
“Just doing my thing,” Manaea said. “I’ve always dreamt of being in a position like this and to help this team win is huge.”
Consider Manaea the tone-setter for the rest of the rotation, which has done a fantastic job following his lead. As great as the starters have been in exceeding the rosiest projections all season long, they also seem to be saving their best for last, another unexpected twist for a group that had plenty of health concerns coming in.
If the recovering Lindor can’t be relied on as the spark plug, then it’s up to the rotation to stifle the other side, at least long enough for the Mets to scrape together the winning runs. Although that’s not exactly the preferred strategy each night, it worked Monday, with Manaea buying enough time for Jose Iglesias’ infield single (off the pitcher’s glove) to tie the score in the eighth and Starling Marte’s walk-off winner in the 10th.
Manaea’s Monday heroics were a flashback to his previous start Wednesday, when he was locked in a duel with the Blue Jays’ Bowden Francis, whose no-hit bid lasted for eight innings. As demoralizing as that was for the Mets, Manaea kept them within a run for his 6 2/3 innings, and Lindor’s tying homer in the ninth triggered a six-run outburst.
The Mets did score 11 runs Friday in Philly, but like against Toronto, piled up a half-dozen in one inning, the fifth, after being blanked the first four. Over their last 25 innings, the Mets have pushed across only three runs, and that paucity of offensive production isn’t going to win very often, unless the rotation is pitching at a superhuman level.
Mendoza expressed some concern about protecting his two workhorses, Manaea and Severino — they’re at 171 innings and 172, respectively, well beyond their totals the past few seasons. But the Mets will need to lean on their greatest strength for the stretch run, and Mendoza can’t afford to throttle back too much in a heated playoff chase that easily could come down to the final out.
“It starts on the mound,” Mendoza said.
That’s primarily where the Mets will need to finish this wild-card push, too.
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.
