Senga’s hamstring injury will almost certainly land him on the IL, but the Mets have depth.
With Kodai Senga having left his start against the Nationals early because of a hamstring injury, the Mets have a vacancy in their starting rotation. They also have quite a bit of starting pitching depth, giving them a few different options to fill Senga’s spot. Let’s take a quick look at some of those options.
Paul Blackburn is right there on the Mets’ major league roster, and he’s made two major league appearances since returning from his own stint on the injured list: a five-inning start against the Dodgers in which he didn’t allow any runs and a four-inning relief appearance that earned him a save as he gave up three runs against the Rockies. In those nine innings of work, he has a 3.00 ERA and a 2.41 FIP.
Frankie Montas is on a rehab assignment and hasn’t thrown more than four innings or 76 pitches in any of his four appearances in the minors. He last pitched on Sunday, June 8, and would be on full or extra rest if the Mets were to have him take Senga’s turn or use Senga’s replacement against the Rays this weekend instead of waiting until their series in Atlanta next week. Like several of the Mets’ other starting pitcher acquisitions under David Stearns, his recent numbers at the major league level weren’t great, but it’ll be interesting to see what effect the Mets’ pitching lab has on him whenever he’s deemed ready for major league action.
Nolan McLean came into the season as a top-100 prospect in baseball and has excelled in both Double-A Binghamton and—more impressively given the struggles of other pitchers who have made the jump—Triple-A Syracuse. He also made his most recent appearance on June 8 and would be lined up well for a start if the Mets were to give him a shot.
Blade Tidwell has a 4.24 ERA over his last four appearances with Syracuse, and he got one major league start that didn’t go super well back on May 4. He pitched on Tuesday, June 10, and could presumably slot in to Senga’s next turn in the rotation in Atlanta if the Mets were so inclined.
And last but not least, Sean Manaea still has some ramping up to do on his rehab assignment, as he has just two appearances with Brooklyn with just four-and-one-third innings pitched. He figures to be the best pitcher of anyone on this short list the rest of the way this year, but he probably needs a minimum of two more rehab outings before he’s ready to return to the major league mound.
There are other options out there, of course, if the Mets didn’t want to go with any of these pitchers. Brandon Waddell and Justin Hagenman have gotten major league appearances this year and could be used as a one-off starter in conjunction with a planned bullpen game. Brandon Sproat’s number in Syracuse leave a lot to be desired, but he’s available. And while it would be pretty shocking to see the Mets call up someone from Binghamton when they have other options at the higher levels of the organization, Jonah Tong has turned heads this season with outstanding numbers in Double-A ball.