A quick review of how the Mets’ pitchers fared in the final week of the first half.
Seeing Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga’s names back on this meter warms my heart. With the exception of the bullpen game the Mets had to pitch in Game 2 of Thursday’s doubleheader, the starting rotation did well, though Clay Holmes’ week was a mixed bag. The bats bailed Holmes out, but the Mets lost a couple of close games in the final week of the first half as well, for which there is plenty of blame to go around between the offense and the pitching.
David Peterson got screwed over by lack of run support the most. He still gets a fireball anyway because Thursday’s Game 1 loss was certainly not his fault and he demonstrated why he earned his All-Star nod. He pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out six batters and walking none. Because the Mets’ bullpen had been taxed heavily and it was a doubleheader, Carlos Mendoza sent Peterson back out for the eighth and he allowed a leadoff single and was immediately pulled. Ryne Stanek came in the game and allowed his inherited runner to score and the go-ahead run on top of that via a two-run Gunnar Henderson homer. One of those runs was charged to Peterson and Stanek would go on to allow a second run of his own as well, taking the loss. Austin Warren recorded the final out of the eighth inning with Stanek unable to get out of the inning in what was his only outing of the week.
The nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader was the Mets’ worst collective pitching performance, but that was kind of to be expected given that it was a bullpen game. Brandon Waddell gave up three runs on four hits in the first three innings and Justin Hagenman took the loss, allowing three runs (two of them earned) in two innings with three strikeouts. Hopefully with some of their reinforcements back, there will be fewer games like this in the second half for the Mets. The only bright spot in the game was 2 2⁄3 scoreless innings by Rico Garcia, who was picked up by the Yankees after the Mets designated him for assignment.
The Mets DFA’d Garcia to make room on the roster for Kodai Senga, who returned from the injured list on Friday. He pitched four scoreless innings, striking out four batters and walking two. Newcomer Alex Carrillo was solid in relief of Senga on Friday, yielding one run in two innings of work. Carrillo also pitched in the series opener in Baltimore and gave up a solo homer to Jackson Holliday, which seemed like it was just a tack-on run at the time, but it ended up being an important run since the Mets came back to tie the game.
Clay Holmes started that series opener and pitched poorly, giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings of work. Things were going okay for Holmes until the sixth, but he could not navigate through the inning and ended up being removed from the game before retiring a batter in that inning. He struck out five and walked one in the outing. Holmes redeemed himself on Sunday with five strong innings. In that outing, he gave up two runs on five hits, striking out two batters and walking one.
Of course, Sunday’s game also saw the return of Sean Manaea, who piggybacked with Holmes and was excellent in his season debut. He pitched three scoreless innings and it looked like that would be all for his day, but then the Mets tied the game in the top of the ninth and Carlos Mendoza sent Manaea back out for the bottom of the ninth. Unfortunately the Royals walked it off against Manaea, so he was ultimately charged with one run in 3 1⁄3 innings, but it was still a strong season debut and an encouraging one for the Mets who will need Manaea (and Senga) for the stretch run.
Dicky Lovelady appeared in both Tuesday’s game and Thursday night’s bullpen game. After Clay Holmes imploded in the sixth on Tuesday, Lovelady came in the game and successfully recorded the first two outs of the inning to stop the bleeding. He also came in the game on Thursday night with nobody out in the sixth and a man on second. His inherited runner advanced to third on a groundout and then scored on fielder’s choice. Rico Garcia came in the game and another groundout scored another run, which was charged to Lovelady.
Other than Stanek’s poop emoji performance, the back end of the Mets’ bullpen was fantastic in the final week of the first half. Edwin Díaz in particular flashed his All-Star credentials with three scoreless innings across two appearances. In Saturday’s game, Díaz earned his first six-out save of the season, striking out a batter in the process. That marked his 19th save of the season. Díaz earned the win on Tuesday by pitching a 1-2-3 ninth after the Mets came back to tie the game.
Huascar Brazobán earned the save on Tuesday with a 1-2-3 tenth complete with a strikeout after Juan Soto’s RBI single gave the Mets a one-run lead. Brazobán also earned his fifth win of the season on Friday, despite giving up two runs in that outing. The Mets bailed Brazobán out by coming from behind to put up crooked numbers in the eighth and ninth against the Royals bullpen.
Reed Garrett had a clean sheet this week across three appearances. He worked around a walk and a hit to pitch a scoreless eighth inning in Tuesday’s game, which proved to be vital for the Mets’ comeback. He then earned his 15th hold of the season for a scoreless eighth inning on Friday after the Mets tied it up. He then finished off his week by earning yet another hold on Sunday for a 1-2-3 sixth inning.
Chris Devenski posted a clean sheet last week as well, as he continues to cement himself as perhaps a more permanent member of the bullpen moving forward. He polished off Friday’s victory with a scoreless ninth inning and assisted Garrett in building the bridge to Díaz on Sunday with a scoreless seventh inning, earning his second hold of the season.
Frankie Montas started Sunday’s game and had a very strong outing, giving up just one run on four hits over five innings of work. He struck out five batters and walked none. If Montas really was tipping his pitches against the Pirates and the version of him that we saw on Sunday is more like what the Mets can expect moving forward, the rotation is in good shape in the second half.