Many of them know the journey.
Now all they have to do is cut a radically different route. Think of it as choosing the alternative course on Google Maps.
The Hot Mets dived the surprising Marlins on Monday night in Marlins Park, 11-4, in need of a restart after the Phillies soared them out of Citizens Bank Park. Luis Rojas’ group picked up the win, despite receiving just 1 ² / ₃ innings from his starter, Robert Gsellman, as Chasen Shreve, Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach and Franklyn Kilome teamed up to pick up the last 22 outs, making three runs – two of those in garbage time ninth.
“May [Gsellman] still stretching, I think the whole bull knows we need to be ready early, “said Shreve, who grabbed the win by putting back all seven fighters he faced, five via strikeout.
While they may not survive every night from their starting pitcher on such a meager contribution, these Mets (10-14) will certainly not replicate from their immediate predecessors’ rotational excellence that catapulted them from summer perseverance to autumn relevance (and what would has been a playoff spot in this year’s installation for this year) From what we’ve seen so far in 2020, these guys will have to do it with a loaded, superior ball pan to cover for a starting corps that is more undeveloped than Shooter Flatch at the beginning of “Hoosiers.”
“There’s a lot of confidence that relievers can help us win games in any particular scenario, in any situation,” said Mook’s rookie manager Luis Rojas about his bullpen prior to the game.
Here pleads for even more confidence. Pay more attention to the relief, capitalize on the rosters of 28 men and acknowledge the weakness of the team.
See what happened over the weekend: In all three games, Rojas played too long with his starters: Walker Lockett (fill in for Jacob deGrom) on Friday night, Steven Matz on Saturday night and Rick Porcello on Sunday. Monday night therefore presented a welcome contrast, as Rojas lifted starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter Gsellman with two outs in the second inning, Marlins on first and second and the Mets taking a 3-1 lead.
“The stress on the first inning and the second inning, the fight of the command, I thought we almost saw him at a point where he got tired by two innings of work,” said Rojas of Gsellman. “This is a boy we’re just starting to stretch and that’s immediately when we went to Shreve.” The south side Shreve stepped in and jailed lefty hitter Matt Joyce to escape the jam, setting the tone.
“We have so many guys down there who can throw multiples,” Shreve said. “It’s actually really fun and reassuring.”
DeGrom appeared ready to return to the rotation on Wednesday night, Rojas said on Monday, and the manager refused to oblige her for the flaining Matz who took his turn on Thursday night. Between health concerns and performance concerns, things remain strongly in flux for this group. The Mets starters are now sporting a 5.54 ERA, 14th in the National League entering action late on Monday, while their 4.55 relief placed them seventh.
When the Mets of 2019 completely turned their season around with a 40-21 stretch to exclude the schedule, their starters counted a 3.06 ERA, second-best in the NL, and their relievers 4.36, eighth-best (thanks , FanGraphs). That’s a better way to go, no matter how many meltdowns Edwin Diaz or Mickey Callaway’s head scratchers speak to you. With Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler all gone, a resurgence of this revival seems almost impossible, despite how much rookie David Peterson helps pick up on Gstellman’s unsteady return to the rotation, Porcello’s subversive numbers as physical Michael Wacha unreliability.
“It’s an early year,” Michael Conforto said Monday, “but I think we can all pull things from last year when we played at our best. … We should have fun. That part of the year was when everything melted. “
If Rojas does not build on Monday’s action and masterfully control his club’s strengths, the high ambitions of the Mets of the 2020 Mets, not to mention, perhaps the Wilpon era, will fade away.
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