What we’re hearing about the Mets’ pitching staff

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NEW YORK — For much of April, the New York Mets’ pitching staff hummed along unperturbed. Not only did it perform as the best in baseball, but it was among the most stable: New York barely needed to make any roster moves to buttress that group.

But in the past week, that status quo has been punctured by a couple of gut-punch injuries. A.J. Minter and Danny Young are both staring down the possibility of season-ending surgery. The Mets are back to operating a reliever revolving door each day.

Thanks to conversations with sources inside and around the organization, here’s what we’re hearing on the Mets’ short- and longer-term plans with their pitching staff.

Another sixth ‘starter’ will pitch Sunday

After Thursday, the Mets have six days left in this stretch in which they’ll play 26 games in 27 days. That means they need a sixth “starter” — we’re using quotes because it could again be a bulk pitcher used after an opener — one more time to keep their rotation on five days of rest.

The Mets want Griffin Canning to get an extra day of rest before his start against the Diamondbacks (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

New York wants to use that starter Sunday against the Cardinals for a few reasons. First, it provides an additional day of rest for Griffin Canning and David Peterson ahead of their next starts in Arizona next week. Second, a game in St. Louis against the Cardinals lineup is a softer landing spot than one in Arizona against the Diamondbacks offense. Third and most interesting, the Mets view the series in Arizona as especially important for long-term tiebreaker concerns. Remember, the Mets (and Atlanta) made the postseason last year over the Diamondbacks by virtue of winning the season series. New York has already clinched the season series over the Cardinals, thanks to their four-game sweep at Citi Field in April.

Using that starter Sunday eliminates top prospect Brandon Sproat from consideration; Sproat pitched on Wednesday. It does leave fellow prospect Blade Tidwell in play. Tidwell last pitched Sunday. In six starts at Triple A, Tidwell owns 37 strikeouts in 27 innings, albeit with a 5.00 ERA. In his past two starts, he’s struck out 18 while walking one.

Tidwell’s stuff has played up this season. All five of his offerings have a Stuff+ of 100 or better on the Triple-A scale, with his sweeper a real standout. In simpler terms, all five of his pitches have been above-average for a Triple-A pitcher, some by multiple standard deviations.

Justin Hagenman would be another option. He also started Sunday in Syracuse’s doubleheader, although he was hit hard — seven runs in two innings. Hagenman acquitted himself well in his major-league debut in Minneapolis last month, allowing one run in 3 1/3 innings.

The bullpen shuffle

For 30 of the first 31 days of the season, the Mets essentially rolled with the same eight-man bullpen; the exception was the finale in Minnesota when Huascar Brazobán opened for Hagenman, with Max Kranick spending one day as a theoretical member of the Syracuse Mets.

But in the past five days, the Mets have added five different relievers to their pen: José Ureña, Kevin Herget, Chris Devenski, Ty Adcock and Génesis Cabrera.

“It’s part of what we do. It was different the first two weeks when we didn’t make a move. That was strange,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I feel like every day I keep talking about our depth. People are going to come through those doors, impact the team and help us win baseball games.”

The big losses have been on the left side, with both Minter and Young going down with significant injuries. Minter may need shoulder surgery to deal with the lat strain that sidelined him over the weekend; surgery would end his season. Young may need Tommy John surgery to repair the sprain in his left elbow; surgery would end his season, as well. As of Thursday morning, Young was awaiting an opinion from Dr. Keith Meister.

“This is about as bad a timing as you can get,” Young said, holding back an ironic chuckle on Wednesday night.

Young had been feeling soreness in his elbow since back in spring training. That’s why the Mets had been inconsistent with his usage dating back to the spring schedule. Even as the soreness worsened into the season, Young’s stuff didn’t show any ill effects. His last outing in Washington was one of his best, with three strikeouts in a scoreless inning. Even though his ERA is a pedestrian 4.32, his FIP is 1.40, in line with his 13-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 8 1/3 innings.

Dedniel Núñez could be key against lefties

With both Minter and Young down, the Mets will lean on their existing crop of right-handed relievers against lefties. They’ve had success with those guys so far this season:

Despite his recent struggles and some issues with lefties this season, Ryne Stanek has a long history of being platoon-neutral. In his career, lefties OPS .674 against him compared to .675 for righties.

And one other name who could see big spots against lefties: Dedniel Núñez. In his brief but outstanding 2024, Núñez limited lefties to a .574 OPS. While it’s notable that Núñez hasn’t been called up while the Mets have shuffled through other right-handed relievers, it’s not because he’s fallen down the hierarchy in any way. The Mets’ recent roster moves have all been temporary fixes, often with an eye toward length.

Mendoza said Thursday that when the team calls Núñez up, it expects to have him in the big leagues for a while: “When he does come up, we want to keep him here for a long time.” Núñez has appeared in nine games for Triple-A Syracuse this season, compiling a 4.00 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 11 innings. That promotion could be coming as soon as next week in Arizona, once the Mets get back to a five-man rotation.

One reason Núñez hasn’t been called up is that the Mets have needed to use a roster spot for a spot starter/length option. The Mets used lefty Brandon Waddell in such a role on Wednesday. In his first major-league outing since 2021, Waddell tossed 4 1/3 scoreless innings. The Mets optioned him back to Triple A on Thursday. He will remain stretched out as a starter. But Mendoza did not rule out the possibility of Waddell emerging as a left-handed relief option down the road.

Reed Garrett made a significant change against lefties

In high-leverage situations against left-handed batters, Núñez and Stanek may be the Mets’ first options, but Reed Garrett isn’t far behind.

New York viewed Garrett as platoon-neutral last year, and he only reinforced that belief so far this season because of a usage change. Garrett, who has yet to allow an earned run this season, has held left-handed batters to a .556 OPS. Left-handed batters have recorded just four hits against him, all singles, in 21 at-bats. Against left-handed batters, Garrett decided to cut down his four-seam usage and instead rely more on cutters and sinkers.

Last year, Garrett threw his sinker just 5.5 percent of the time against left-handed batters. This season, he has deployed the sinker against left-handed batters 17.7 percent of the time. Garrett’s four-seam fastball was his worst pitch. More sinkers have led to a higher ground-ball rate with less slugging against him.

“I took a step back and looked at where my damage came from,” Garrett said. “I realized I had better pitches to throw in better in counts, and I should try to challenge them with those pitches rather than throw the pitch that was getting consistently hit the hardest.”

Clarity on Edwin Díaz usage

Since experiencing a cramp on April 23, Edwin Díaz has pitched just once (on April 26). Club officials say his lack of usage is a product of circumstances, not health.

In the Mets’ 4-3 loss Wednesday night against the Diamondbacks, Mendoza allowed Chris Devenski to pitch the ninth inning instead of going to Díaz. Devenski, who had just been called up and was optioned the next day, didn’t allow a run in the eighth inning. But he gave up two runs in his second inning of work.

Ahead of the ninth inning, Díaz warmed up in case the Mets tied the score or took the lead.

Mendoza called it a tough decision. He cited the Mets’ schedule — they’re in a stretch of 26 games over 27 days — and said he decided to “play the long game” in regards to Díaz. The Mets have operated carefully with their closer. He has pitched in back-to-back games twice. They’ve asked him to go more than one inning just once, which was the day he experienced the cramping.

“If this is July, August, it’s an easier decision,” Mendoza said.

Frankie Montas has moved ahead of Sean Manaea

While both Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas eventually landed on the 60-day injured list this week — in both cases, procedural moves that don’t change the pitchers’ timeline to return — it was interesting that Manaea was placed there first. That reflects the reality that Montas is now closer to a return than Manaea.

Montas has been throwing out to 120 feet compared to Manaea’s 75, with the Mets taking it especially slowly with Manaea since his setback in early April. The Mets are still targeting June for a return for both of them, but Manaea’s might not come right at the beginning of the month.

Paul Blackburn, on the other hand, should be ready for big-league action before the end of May.

There’s a blueprint for Génesis Cabrera

Called up on Thursday, Cabrera is the only lefty in the Mets bullpen for now. Cabrera’s pitched in 272 big-league games with a 3.89 ERA, including a 3.59 mark in 69 games for Toronto last season. So there’s a track record of competence at least.

The Mets think they can get something more out of the minor-league signing.

“I think about Cabby similar to how I thought about Brazobán last year,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “The stuff is unbelievable. If we just get it in the zone a little bit more, it can really take off. That’s what Braz has been able to do: get in the zone more and get the chase with two strikes. (Cabrera) is very resilient, he bounces back, and he’s experienced in the big leagues. That’s comforting.”

(Top photo of Edwin Díaz: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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