Clay is a reliever turned starter. It makes sense that you would be careful with him. I think by now we generally should trust how the pitching staff is handled. The problem yesterday was mostly Blackburn. Kranick didn't help too much, but as for secondary problems, the offense also is to blame. They had multiple chances to come back and stopped scoring.
I don't have too much faith in Blackburn. He is an okay starter, but especially if you are being careful with Holmes, you want him as your sixth starter. Now, he's your fifth, and you have to rely on Megill and Canning to stay on course. Who knows what Montas will bring?
Without Senga, you are stretching things a bit too far.
It's the first I've heard that Holmes complained of "soreness" after his last start. In managing him, the question is, what's the pitch limit? 95? 85? 79 seems low. Digress: if you put together the 9th inning in the previous game against the Nats and what happened yesterday, you've got some God-awful relief pitching. I felt traumatized watching the implosion. Not a nice welcome back to the bigs for Kranick. Let's hope it's only a blip. Looking over Blackburn's career stats, I don't see a whole lot of reason for optimism.
Mendy said after the game, Holmes had a hard 85-pitch limit yesterday. He didn't send him out to start the sixth because he didn't want to run him out for just one batter.
You're right about Blackburn, though. He's never had a great deal of success and he's always been a back-end guy. He could be fine as a sixth starter if he can pitch to a .500 record and eat innings, but his stuff just doesn't play out of the 'pen.
So, he could be pitching for a roster spot in a few days. Gotta figure Canning and Megill to be on the inside track for Tail End Charlie once Manaea is back, provided Montas is effective (that's a huge open question) and Senga comes back okay.
Manea's injury looks like it's going to be the whole first half, which nobody predicted. The bullpen better right itself soon. When was the last time our bullpen gave up 6 runs in an inning? I think yesterday was the first day in maybe 4 weeks that the Phils gained any ground on us.
I'm not really worried about the bullpen. Friday night was all about Blackburn having nothing and Kranick being cold after a couple weeks on the bus. Tonight's mess was all about Megill letting it get away from him.
I thought tonight would be the night where Tylor gets back on track, but he was as bad as he's been all year. He was throwing it all over the yard.
Which brings me back to something I've said about him on a few occasions: just because you can throw six different pitches doesn't mean you should. I get it, his underlying metrics look great, but you win games on the top line numbers, not on getting the data fluffed with a lot of secondary pitches in meaningless counts.
Hef needs to strip him down to three pitches — fastball, cutter, change (which in Tylor's case is the hard sinker) — and get him to concentrate on taking a little off, putting a little on, and saving his big time heater for when he really needs it. And just throw the secondary stuff to show he has it.
In other words, pitch. He hits the same numbers on the gun over and over and over again. Second time through the lineup he gets barreled up. Drives me nuts.
Taking out Holmes early wasn’t the reason the Mets lost this game. Let’s not overthink that move—this one came down to poor relief pitching and even worse situational hitting.
The bullpen faltered, yes, but there may be a reason: Mendoza’s been using them too sparingly overall. Blackburn, in particular, looked like a guy who’s still adjusting to being a reliever. That’s not on one night—it’s on planning.
But the bigger issue is the bats, especially in the bottom of the order. Marte had a great night—credit where it’s due—but one guy can’t carry the offense. The rest of the lineup was lifeless with runners on. Nimmo, for all his recent hot streaks, shrinks when facing real pitching like we saw against the Rays. He just doesn't get clutch hits. Baty and Mauricio? Time to consider trips back to the minors. They’re not showing growth at the plate.
Taylor at least brings defense, and Alvarez just keeps chasing—he’s in freefall. And let’s be honest: Vientos isn’t the cavalry. I wouldn’t count on him solving anything when he returns.
Right now, it’s basically Soto, Alonso, McNeil, Marte and a streaky Lindor doing the work. That won’t cut it when the rest of the lineup disappears in big moments.
Until they solve their RISP issues and get consistent production beyond the core, they’ll keep folding against good teams—and dreaming about October will stay just that: a dream.
Didn't Senga hurt himself last year on a pop up that he initially went for ...and Alonzo came charging in so Senga abruptly stopped and hurt himself. That's twice Alonzo has indirectly caused injury to Senga
Clay is a reliever turned starter. It makes sense that you would be careful with him. I think by now we generally should trust how the pitching staff is handled. The problem yesterday was mostly Blackburn. Kranick didn't help too much, but as for secondary problems, the offense also is to blame. They had multiple chances to come back and stopped scoring.
I don't have too much faith in Blackburn. He is an okay starter, but especially if you are being careful with Holmes, you want him as your sixth starter. Now, he's your fifth, and you have to rely on Megill and Canning to stay on course. Who knows what Montas will bring?
Without Senga, you are stretching things a bit too far.
Tough to lose one when you are up 5-1 heading into the 7th. As all things must pass, dig down and start a new streak!
So reading on I see Blackburn is scheduled to start next week?? This wasn't exactly a confidence builder.
Blackburn isn’t good and Montas is getting crushed in the minors 🤦🏼♂️ Mauricio looks overmatched against non-Rockies pitchers. Let’s win today!
I think of giving Mauricio playing time as an investment in the future. The present isn't great. I think he's a potential star.
It's the first I've heard that Holmes complained of "soreness" after his last start. In managing him, the question is, what's the pitch limit? 95? 85? 79 seems low. Digress: if you put together the 9th inning in the previous game against the Nats and what happened yesterday, you've got some God-awful relief pitching. I felt traumatized watching the implosion. Not a nice welcome back to the bigs for Kranick. Let's hope it's only a blip. Looking over Blackburn's career stats, I don't see a whole lot of reason for optimism.
Mendy said after the game, Holmes had a hard 85-pitch limit yesterday. He didn't send him out to start the sixth because he didn't want to run him out for just one batter.
You're right about Blackburn, though. He's never had a great deal of success and he's always been a back-end guy. He could be fine as a sixth starter if he can pitch to a .500 record and eat innings, but his stuff just doesn't play out of the 'pen.
So, he could be pitching for a roster spot in a few days. Gotta figure Canning and Megill to be on the inside track for Tail End Charlie once Manaea is back, provided Montas is effective (that's a huge open question) and Senga comes back okay.
Manea's injury looks like it's going to be the whole first half, which nobody predicted. The bullpen better right itself soon. When was the last time our bullpen gave up 6 runs in an inning? I think yesterday was the first day in maybe 4 weeks that the Phils gained any ground on us.
I'm not really worried about the bullpen. Friday night was all about Blackburn having nothing and Kranick being cold after a couple weeks on the bus. Tonight's mess was all about Megill letting it get away from him.
I thought tonight would be the night where Tylor gets back on track, but he was as bad as he's been all year. He was throwing it all over the yard.
Which brings me back to something I've said about him on a few occasions: just because you can throw six different pitches doesn't mean you should. I get it, his underlying metrics look great, but you win games on the top line numbers, not on getting the data fluffed with a lot of secondary pitches in meaningless counts.
Hef needs to strip him down to three pitches — fastball, cutter, change (which in Tylor's case is the hard sinker) — and get him to concentrate on taking a little off, putting a little on, and saving his big time heater for when he really needs it. And just throw the secondary stuff to show he has it.
In other words, pitch. He hits the same numbers on the gun over and over and over again. Second time through the lineup he gets barreled up. Drives me nuts.
Those 2 are brutal. Stanik is failing also. Yeah...hope Stearns. an get a decent reliever.
Taking out Holmes early wasn’t the reason the Mets lost this game. Let’s not overthink that move—this one came down to poor relief pitching and even worse situational hitting.
The bullpen faltered, yes, but there may be a reason: Mendoza’s been using them too sparingly overall. Blackburn, in particular, looked like a guy who’s still adjusting to being a reliever. That’s not on one night—it’s on planning.
But the bigger issue is the bats, especially in the bottom of the order. Marte had a great night—credit where it’s due—but one guy can’t carry the offense. The rest of the lineup was lifeless with runners on. Nimmo, for all his recent hot streaks, shrinks when facing real pitching like we saw against the Rays. He just doesn't get clutch hits. Baty and Mauricio? Time to consider trips back to the minors. They’re not showing growth at the plate.
Taylor at least brings defense, and Alvarez just keeps chasing—he’s in freefall. And let’s be honest: Vientos isn’t the cavalry. I wouldn’t count on him solving anything when he returns.
Right now, it’s basically Soto, Alonso, McNeil, Marte and a streaky Lindor doing the work. That won’t cut it when the rest of the lineup disappears in big moments.
Until they solve their RISP issues and get consistent production beyond the core, they’ll keep folding against good teams—and dreaming about October will stay just that: a dream.
They have a good record against good teams. I think they can afford to allow Baty and Mauricio to develop. Alvarez is a problem, I agree.
We'll see. The homers today are a good sign.
Didn't Senga hurt himself last year on a pop up that he initially went for ...and Alonzo came charging in so Senga abruptly stopped and hurt himself. That's twice Alonzo has indirectly caused injury to Senga
He'll never be a Hernandez or mattingly. I'll be happy if he just improves.