It may not seem like it, but this meter is an improvement over last week—mostly because there are way fewer poop emojis this time around at least. Though Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea are still struggling, the Mets at least got some quality starts this week out of the rotation. The bullpen is still decidedly a mixed bag though and now the pitching staff is dealing with a couple of new injuries as well.
| Player | Last week | This week |
|---|---|---|
| Huascar Brazobán, RHP | — |  |
| Edwin Díaz, RHP | |
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| Reed Garrett, RHP | /cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8556885/Poop_Emoji_2_grande.png) |
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| Ryan Helsley, RHP | |
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| Clay Holmes, RHP |  |
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| Sean Manaea, LHP |  |
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| Nolan McLean, RHP |  |
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| Frankie Montas, RHP | |
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| David Peterson, RHP | |
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| Brooks Raley, LHP | |
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| Tyler Rogers, RHP | |
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| Kodai Senga, RHP | |
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| Gregory Soto, LHP | |
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| Ryne Stanek, RHP | |
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Both Frankie Montas and Reed Garrett have hit the injured list. Montas’ season is unfortunately over
and he may require surgery. Huascar Brazobán replaced him on the roster and made an appearance in Sunday’s game in which he recorded the final out of the seventh inning. Garrett’s injury is luckily less severe and he should hopefully only spend the minimum time on the injured list. Garrett has been struggling mightily of late, so this was an unsurprising development.
David Peterson started Sunday’s game and was really good, but not as good as he was in DC on Tuesday. On that day, he gave the Mets what they so desperately needed, pitching eight one-run innings in which he struck out ten and walked only one. On Sunday Peterson fell one out short of another quality start and the Braves tied up the game against him in the sixth. But he still gets the fireball for Tuesday’s performance and in general being the Mets’ most consistent starter of late.
Ryne Stanek finished off Tuesday’s game with a scoreless ninth inning in relief of Peterson, but unfortunately his other outing last week did not go as well. In the series finale against the Nationals, Stanek got knocked around for four runs in the eighth. They were tack-on runs rather than anything decisive, which is why he avoids the dreaded poop emoji.
Sean Manaea started Thursday’s series finale in DC and it was the fifth inning that was his downfall this time. He was unable to get out of the inning and when all was said and done he was charged with four runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings of work. He struck out eight batters and walked only one, but Tyler Rogers came in with the bases loaded and allowed a go-ahead RBI single to Riley Adams. Those runs were charged to Manaea and he took the loss. It was a rough outing for Rogers, who allowed a run of his own in the following inning. However, the night before Rogers pitched a scoreless sixth inning in relief of Kodai Senga and in Atlanta Rogers pitched a scoreless eighth inning in Saturday’s victory.
It was a bounce back week for Brooks Raley after his first disastrous meter last week. Raley followed Rogers on Thursday with a strikeout of James Wood to end the sixth and then came back out and pitched a scoreless seventh as well. It was also Raley who came in to record the final out of the sixth inning on suNDAY to help quash the game-tying rally that started against Peterson. In a tie game, Raley retired all three batters he faced.
But it was a rough week for the Mets’ other lefty in the bullpen Gregory Soto, who gets his first bad grade as a Met. Though the Mets failed to come through with runners in scoring position on Sunday and that was ultimately their downfall, it was Soto who allowed two runs in the eighth that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game. For that, he took the loss. Soto’s other outings last week were better. On Wednesday, Soto worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless seventh in a one-run game. Then in Saturday’s victory, Soto successfully recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning.
That final effort of Soto’s week came in relief of Clay Holmes, who had a really encouraging outing on Saturday. During a period where Holmes is one of multiple Mets starters struggling to go deep into games, he logged a quality start, yielding just two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings of work. He struck out four and walked two in the outing. With that effort, Holmes improved to 11-6 on the season. Edwin Díaz finished off Saturday’s victory despite the lopsided score because he hadn’t pitched in many days. He worked around a hit to pitch a scoreless ninth, striking out two. That was his only outing for the week.
Nolan McLean also contributed a quality start last week in his second major league outing, following up his strong debut with another great performance. The most important stat: he struck out seven batters and didn’t walk anybody. McLean is now 2-0 and not only is he here to stay, he will be joined by Jonah Tong the next time through the rotation.
With his struggles, Ryan Helsley was asked to finish Saturday’s game with the Mets up big and he got knocked around even in mop-up duty. He gave up three runs before finally getting through the ninth. It’s been a rough road for Helsley, who the Mets desperately need to right the ship and fast.
Kodai Senga did not have a quality start, unfortunately. He gave up five runs—four of them earned—in five innings of work on Wednesday against a not exactly formidable Nationals lineup. He took the loss, dropping to 7-5 on the season. His ERA is still a very sparkling 2.58, but given where it was earlier in the season, that is not good news. The bullpen did its job in relief of Senga on Wednesday and the Mets pulled within a run, but could not complete the comeback.
