Mets routed in Atlanta, and a note about choices for the starting rotation
It's time for the Mets to give an extended look to Joey Lucchesi
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were routed by the Braves 7-0 in Atlanta on Wednesday night (Box)
José Quintana experienced his first real difficult outing for the Mets - he did pitch into the 6th inning but departed after allowing three runs before the bullpen allowed two more inherited runs of his to score
The Mets put together just two singles and a DJ Stewart double against Charlie Morton and the Braves bullpen
The Mets finished the season 3-10 against the Braves, were shutout for the 14th time this season, are 18-19 against the NL East, 15-22-4 in series, 5-14-3 in series on the road, 10-45 when scoring three or fewer runs, 9-14 in August, and 17-21 since the All-Star Game
Injury Updates 🏥
Edwin Díaz (knee surgery) threw off a mound on Wednesday, and the Mets are now considering the next steps in his progression
Roster Moves 🗞️
Selected the contract of RHP Sean Reid-Foley from Triple-A Syracuse
Designated RHP Tyson Miller for assignment
Optioned RHP Reed Garrett to Triple-A Syracuse
Prospect Watch 🔎
INF Luisangel Acuña (No. 1 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, BB, RBI
RHP Tyler Stuart (No. 17 prospect, Double-A): 6 IP, 2 H, 6 K
INF Jett Williams (No. 3 prospect, Single-A Brooklyn): 3-for-5, 2B, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI
INF Ronny Mauricio (No. 4 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4, R
Today’s Game 🗓
The Mets are off today - they return home tomorrow to begin a three-game series against the Angels at Citi Field.
What are the Mets doing in their starting rotation? ✍️
Right now, the Mets rotation consists of José Quintana, Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill, David Peterson, and Carlos Carrasco.
And right now, that rotation does not include Joey Lucchesi, who was up with the club last week but has since been optioned back to Triple-A.
Of course, Quintana has been fine and needs to build an innings count through the rest of the year. Senga has been fantastic all year, and the Mets need to see what they have in both Megill and Peterson. Both have shown progress, both have shown signs they can pitch at this level effectively, both have also shown they could be candidates to go to the bullpen, specifically Megill who has bursts of stamina early in his outings before seemingly flaming out.
That leaves Carrasco who, unfortunately, just hasn’t been big league competitive for most of the season. He’s given the Mets just 88.1 IP over 19 starts this season having failed to even reach five innings in 10 of those 19 starts. He’s been clobbered more often than he’s been effective and is representative of exactly what has plagued the Mets and led them to their evacuation from the 2023 season.
He’s a great story, a guy any team should want in their clubhouse, a class act and all of the great things that make up a quality player. But in the end, it’s about performance and to be fair, the Mets are wasting Joey Lucchesi’s bullets at Triple-A short of a few spot starts here and there and giving those opportunities to Carrasco, a diminished starting pitcher who is really straining an already compromised bullpen more often than not.
So, what can the Mets do from here?
Well, in an ideal world the Mets would simply cut Carrasco or phantom IL him to make room for Lucchesi to have a regular opportunity at this level. But obviously, it’s not quite that simple.
Plus, I don’t know that it’s so much about keeping Carrasco around because of his story as much as it could be about Senga.
Last week, Mets manager Buck Showalter hinted the Mets could look to curtail Senga’s innings count or even consider shutting him down towards the end of the season. He has reached 129.2 IP over 23 starts this season, this after the Mets were very cautious in their early season build-up of Senga as they worked to integrate him into the big league pitching routine. He has never thrown more than 180 innings (2019) in his professional career and is coming off a 2022 season during which he threw 148 innings.
Perhaps the Mets are looking at the 160-170 innings mark as a cap for Senga, and then shutting him down? That’s not clear but it’s a sensible target for the Mets and Senga to set before giving him a fuller innings load in 2024.
Now, how can the Mets manage that and keep Carrasco around?
They could simply move to a six-man rotation with Lucchesi which would organically give Senga at least one extra day of rest in between starts and in some cases, a full week in between starts. If they went this route and he were to average six innings per start the rest of the way, that would give him around six starts left and 166 innings, right in the aforementioned range I proposed. They could also monitor his workload, efficiency and pitches under duress and adjust that accordingly.
Doing this would allow Carrasco to pitch out the string for the Mets for better or for worse.
Alternatively, the Mets could choose a shutdown date for Senga - presumably around the time the Triple-A season concludes - and incorporate Lucchesi into a regular five-man rotation then. I’m not sure that’s what’s best for Lucchesi and what’s best for the Mets in their evaluation of Lucchesi, but it is an option and one that feels more likely since it’s the easiest way to navigate Senga’s load without disrupting his routine.
There’s also Mike Vasil, the club’s ninth-best prospect who has enjoyed recent success at Triple-A after a very rough start following a mid-year promotion. I’m not sure there’s enough of a quality sample size to consider checking him out here yet, and they don’t have to add him to the 40-man roster either, but he’s someone to consider if not in September, then when camp opens next February.
Around the League 🚩
Shohei Ohtani hit his MLB-best 44th home run, pitched but left the game due to what the Angels originally referred to as right arm fatigue, but was later diagnosed as a torn UCL in his right elbow. Also, the Angels were swept by the Reds in a doubleheader at home and have now lost 15 of their last 20 games
The Yankees snapped their nine-game losing streak thanks in part to three home runs from Aaron Judge - they defeated the Nationals 9-1 in the Bronx
Seth Lugo and the Padres shutout the Marlins 7-0 at Petco Park - Lugo allowed just three hits over six innings and Xander Bogaerts homered to help pace the Padre offense
The Giants scored three runs in the ninth and held off the Phillies 8-6 - Wilmer Flores homered and Michael Conforto notched two hits for himself
Willy Adames had three RBI and the Brewers walked off the Twins 8-7 to improve to 70-57 for the year