First Game Back Exposes Mets’ Need For Bullpen Arms

The excitement of having Sean Manaea back, with the Mets winning and David Wright Day on the horizon, was quickly sucked out as Friday’s game got away from the Mets.

Today is still, of course, David Wright Day. The Mets will have a chance to honor their legend and bounce back on the field. But in the larger picture of this season, Friday’s 8-4 loss to the Reds exposed a problem that the Mets already knew they had, but only came closer to the limelight: They need some bullpen depth.

Manaea, while healthy and pitching well, isn’t built up to full speed yet. While shorter outings are the expectation for him right now, and it’s all standard procedure for working a pitcher back, it’s not something the Mets exactly have the resources to counteract. Bridging the gap to the backend of the bullpen was a challenge that the Mets did not surmount on Friday.

Alex Carrillo‘s outing was disastrous, with three homers given up over 1 1/3 innings. Brandon Waddell was better but still shaky, grinding through 3 2/3 innings with eight baserunners and two runs allowed. Waddell threw a whopping 76 pitches. After taking a 2-0 lead through two innings, the Mets were losing by the fifth inning and losing big by the sixth. It ultimately doomed them despite a near-miraculous comeback attempt in the ninth.

Carrillo is undoubtedly a cool story, making his way to the big leagues from independent ball. But he was tested in a close game on Friday and couldn’t execute.

Manaea’s return is huge for a Mets team which has had an ailing pitching staff over recent weeks. He was the team’s ace last year, and he seems more comfortable with the lowered arm angle. He had an effective season debut as a reliever in the Mets’ last game before the All-Star break, and he slotted right back in the rotation to start the second half. Per the SNY broadcast booth, 1968 was the last time a Mets pitcher threw their last pitch of the first half and first pitch of the second half, when Jerry Koosman did it.

Manaea issued a few free passes (two walks and a hit batsman), and surrendered one of two Austin Hays homers in his final inning of work on Friday, but he still struck out six over four innings of one-run ball. He’s now struck out 13 batters over his first 7 1/3 innings of the season, with two earned runs allowed.

And while Manaea will assuredly build back up, the fact that he’s on a short leash right now hurts the Mets. It’s not an indictment of Manaea, but rather how thin things are in the bullpen right now. Tuesday’s middle-innings situation would have been a good spot for Max Kranick, who pitched well early in the season but is now facing surgery. It’s not like this came the day after a bullpen game; this was the first game back from the All-Star break, with a fully rested bullpen. The fact that the Mets had nobody they could really rely on for those middle innings is a problem.

So they’re going to have to do some serious digging at the trade deadline. Manaea building back up will help, as should Brooks Raley‘s recent return. Jose Buttó is also working his way back. But they could use at least one more quality arm to shore things up in the relief corps. The Mets are set in the closer role with a dominant Edwin Díaz, and the bodies of work for Reed Garrett and Huascar Brazobán have been good despite some recent struggles. But Ryne Stanek‘s season has been inconsistent, and guys like Carrillo, Waddell, and Chris Devenski are just too much of an unknown.

Even if the Mets had gone with one of their better arms in the fifth inning on Friday, getting to the finish line likely still would have been a struggle.

The Mets are still in an okay position overall; the ship certainly isn’t sinking entirely. They entered Friday just a half-game behind the Phillies for first place in the NL East. And there’s still an entire post-All-Star break to go (minus one game). But the continued alterations the Mets make to their bullpen, particularly as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, will be a key storyline to watch for this playoff-hopeful squad.

The post First Game Back Exposes Mets’ Need For Bullpen Arms appeared first on Metsmerized Online.