How will the Mets react to latest rotation blow?
The Mets suffer a body blow of a loss to San Diego on Friday, while also potentially losing Paul Blackburn to injury...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were shutout in a brutal 7-0 loss to the Padres in the second game of the series on Friday night at Petco Park (box)
RHP Paul Blackburn allowed five earned runs on 10 hits with two home runs, no walks and one strikeout in just 2.1 innings, before leaving the game after taking a 100 mph line drive on his pitching hand
RHP Ryne Stanek entered the game in relief and gave up one earned run on two hits with no walks and three strikeouts in 1.2 innings
LHP Danny Young tossed two scoreless innings in relief, issuing one walk and striking out one, before RHP Adam Ottavino gave up an earned run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout in two innings to close out a long night for the bullpen
The Mets managed just two hits all night and didn’t reach base until the fifth inning, with SS Francisco Lindor and RF Starling Marte the only two players to record a hit
New York struckout 14 times and didn’t draw a single walk in Friday night’s game
Padres RHP Joe Musgrove now has a 20-inning scoreless streak going against the Mets after tossing seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball on Friday
The Mets were shutout for the 11th time this year and are now 18-15 since the All-Star break
Playoff Race 🏁
With the Braves winning again on Friday, the Mets have fallen to 2.5 games back of Atlanta for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
There are 33 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 20.7% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the ninth most difficult schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. SD: 4-1 (clinched tiebreaker)
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. STL: 4-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Paul Blackburn left Friday night’s game after being hit in his hand by a comebacker. He will undergo additional tests on Saturday
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Dedniel Núñez returned from his rehab assignment and was reinstated from the IL
RHP Huascar Brazobán optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Drew Gilbert (No. 3 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR
SS Yolmer Sánchez (Triple-A): 3-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 4 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-3, 2 BB
RHP Jonah Tong (No. 10 prospect, High-A): 5.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
3B Junior Tilien (High-A): 3-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 2B
3B Colin Houck (No. 21 prospect, Single-A): 2-for-4, 2B
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (67-62) vs. Padres (73-57)
Where: Petco Park - San Diego, CA
Starters: LHP David Peterson (7-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. RHP Michael King (11-6, 3.18 ERA)
When: 8:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
How will the Mets address their rotation in wake of latest injury setback? ✍️
Friday night was just brutal for the New York Mets in a plethora of different ways.
The offense didn’t show, recording just two hits all night. Starling Marte was the first Met to reach base in the fifth inning, before Francisco Lindor hit a double in the ninth to extend his on-base streak to 22 games.
This lineup just couldn’t figure out San Diego starter Joe Musgrove, who is now riding a 20-inning scoreless streak against the Mets after tossing seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball on Friday.
Musgrove was simply dominant and New York had no answers on the way to being shutout for the 11th time this year.
Then there was the pitching.
Paul Blackburn just didn’t have it from the get-go, allowing a leadoff homer to Luis Arráez before giving up a two-run bomb to Kyle Higashioka to quickly make it a 3-0 game.
Blackburn allowed nine hits in the first two innings, and had given up a total of five earned runs before his night took a turn for the worst.
Pitching in the third, Blackburn took a high-velocity line drive off his pitching hand as he was attempting to cover his head. The veteran slumped to the ground in agony and was soon removed from the game, officially being diagnosed with a right-hand contusion.
Initial X-rays were inconclusive, but Blackburn will undergo further testing on Saturday and the Mets will wait with bated breath.
If the worst news is indeed delivered and Blackburn is set to miss a substantial amount of time, then that will be the latest in a long line of crushing blows for the starting rotation this year.
So, if Blackburn is destined for the shelf, how will the Mets pivot and move forward with their rotation?
Unfortunately, Blackburn was acquired at the trade deadline to give the Mets a dependable arm that could provide some much-needed length. If the righty is taken out of the picture, the rotation arguably returns to the same spot it was in before the deadline.
And that isn’t a great spot to be in.
Tylor Megill would be the obvious candidate to step up and replace Blackburn. However, given that Megill is 2-5 with a 5.17 ERA with the Mets this year, that would hardly be an upgrade.
If Blackburn has suffered any broken bones or a fracture of any kind, he will likely miss the rest of the regular season. Given how wildly inconsistent Megill can be, you would have to argue that the rotation would be significantly weakened in that scenario. Especially when you consider that José Quintana has fallen off a cliff as of late.
Outside of Megill, the options are limited. The Mets would be robbing Peter to pay Paul by taking José Buttó out of the bullpen and inserting him back into the starting rotation. At this point, Buttó has become too valuable a weapon as a relief pitcher and the Mets - at least right now - are not inclined to make this change.
Christian Scott is still working his way back from a sprained UCL in his right elbow, but surgery still hasn’t been ruled out. New York won’t know if Scott can avoid going under the knife until he can start throwing at full-strength again. So, as a result, you can take the rookie out of the equation. Furthermore, none of the Mets’ other young arms in the farm system are probably ready to be called-up and thrown into the heat of a Wild Card race.
As a result, if Blackburn does face a spell out, the options to replace him are limited at best and the starting pitching depth is now razor thin.
For a team that will need to win as many games as possible down the stretch in order to stay alive in the race for the playoffs, this latest blow could prove fatal.
Of course, there is also a good chance that Blackburn is dealing with just heavy bruising, and he could make his next turn in the rotation. In that scenario, the Mets could breath a huge sigh of relief and then just hope that Quintana is able to turn things around.
However, in life and in sports especially, it is best to hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.
And if the Mets get the worst-case scenario update on Blackburn later today, that would turn what was an ugly night on Friday into a true house of horrors that could have long-term implications as far as the Wild Card race is concerned.
Let’s hope we don’t have to confront that reality.
Around the League 🚩
The Nationals are expected to call-up top prospect Dylan Crews - the No. 3 prospect in baseball - for his MLB debut against the Yankees in DC on Monday night
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth to become the sixth player to join baseball’s 40-40 club this year
Aaron Judge homered for the fourth consecutive game and is now one away from the 50-mark as the Yankees shutout the Rockies 3-0
Anthony Santander delivered an electric go-ahead, game-winning grand slam in the eighth inning to help the Orioles beat the red-hot Astros
Former Met Pete Crow-Armstrong led the Cubs with an inside-the-park-home-run that had the fastest home-to-home time of the season
Salvador Perez hit a home run and finished with three RBIs as the Royals clinched a 7-4 thriller against the Phillies
The Mets didn't put up much of a fight last night. Two base runners. They weren't going to sweep the Padres. Facing a guy who owns them, last night was a long shot anyway. But you do expect a bit better effort. The pen did mostly step up. Blackburn overall has been decent so far. He was meant as an extra arm with Senga back. I hope he's okay. If Megill has to pitch a game or two, it should be okay.
Last night was so disappointing. I’m starting to think we are what we thought we were. A slightly above .500 team. I assume we’ll see my man Megill again. Have to keep Butto in the BP