Rotation change?
Morning Dose: Wednesday, May 27
☀️ Good Morning:
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but… it was another terrible Mets game Tuesday night.
The team still can’t produce runs outside of Juan Soto, who plated the only two runs in the Amazins’ 7-2 loss, with a two-run blast. That’s now six straight games with two runs or less for the club.
And the starting pitching wasn’t much better, this time with David Peterson needing 44 pitches before recording his 4th out of the game (luckily, it was a 1-2-3 double play on a chopper back to the mound). He would surrender six runs over 5 frames, and was fortunate it wasn’t more. (And that’s not even getting into his failure to back up home on a throw from the outfield.)
In a game that saw a revamped roster (more on that below), there may be more changes to come, with Carlos Mendoza making clear that there will be a “discussion” about Peterson’s role in the rotation. Asked about it after the game, Peterson said he hasn’t given the possibility any thought, and noted that his role has been “week to week” thus far, as it is.
On the bright side, Sean Manaea continued to show progress last night, fanning six over three innings. Could he go from being the game’s highest paid reliever, to something a bit more useful? We’ll look at Manaea’s progress, and whether he might be able to stabilize the rotation a bit if the Mets decide to swap him for Peterson.
🗓️ UP NEXT: The Mets try to avoid the sweep tonight at 7:10, sending Huascar Brazoban to the mound as an opener, with Jonah Tong expected to see action at some point (the latest example of the club continuing its odd, season-long pattern of mixing and matching to get through nine innings). They face lefty Andrew Abbott (4-2, 3.97 ERA), who has been lights out over his last 6 starts, so expect to see a largely right-handed lineup.
Tong showed a flicker of promise in his relief appearance on Sunday, needing just 28 pitches to throw three scoreless. If he can continue to impress, there is at least one opening in the rotation that might be for the taking.
