The Mets’ rotation reinforcements are on the way, just not immediately for a group that could use immediate help.
Sean Manaea is set to pitch in his final rehab game on Tuesday, which positions him to possibly make his season debut on July 13 in Kansas City, the last day before the All-Star break.
Kodai Senga is slated to start and potentially complete a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton over the weekend, with a chance to be in play for us before the break, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.
Within the next week and a half, the Mets might be adding their two pitchers with arguably the highest ceilings.
Until then, though?
President of baseball operations David Stearns stated, “Every option is on the table, and we are discussing all of them,” indicating possibilities such as more days like Wednesday with an opener, straight bullpen games, calling up additional starters from the minors, or even looking for external assistance.
“We’re going to evaluate everything. We’ll get through it.”
There is plenty to navigate within a rotation that has been downgraded from hurting to ailing, losing one more member before finishing up a series finale with the Brewers at Citi Field.
Paul Blackburn was moved to the injured list with a right shoulder impingement whose severity Mendoza called “relatively good news.” Blackburn will be shut down for three to five days and then is expected to build back up again.
The righty has not been effective in six games, though his heart could not be questioned after he attempted to bridge a 1-hour, 29-minute rain delay in Pittsburgh on Saturday and, for his troubles, was knocked around and suffered an injury that Mendoza said he believes “has something to do with” the day’s difficult workload.
So the Mets are left with an entire rotation — Senga (hamstring), Manaea (oblique, loose elbow bodies), Blackburn (shoulder), Griffin Canning (Achilles) and Tylor Megill (elbow) — shelved. The only surefire starters remaining are David Peterson (who pitched Thursday), Clay Holmes (Wednesday) and Frankie Montas (Sunday).
The Mets’ strong leaning for the upcoming Yankees series is Thursday call-up Justin Hagenman going Friday, Montas on Saturday and Brandon Waddell (who threw 50 pitches over three relief innings Wednesday) pitching Sunday.
Such a plan would not be the most exciting for fans who have been clamoring to see three high-end minor league arms in Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong.
“My preference is to not bring up a top prospect for a spot start,” Stearns said during his homestand availability. “I also understand this is a unique circumstance, and I cannot take anything off the table right now. But my preference would be to figure out a way to do it without [calling one up].”
Tong (a 1.73 ERA in 14 starts) has been the most impressive, but his work has come with Double-A Binghamton, so he is a bit further away. McLean was dominant with Binghamton and has been excellent with Syracuse, entering play with a 2.72 ERA in nine games, but he started Thursday and, thus, would not be an option this weekend.
Sproat, who entered this season as the top-ranked Mets pitcher, is lined up to pitch Saturday or Sunday. But the righty has struggled for the first time in his minor league career, sporting a 5.43 ERA in his first 16 starts with Syracuse.
Saturday, the hard-throwing 24-year-old struck out six in six shutout, two-hit innings.
“I think we saw, as much as anything, a little bit of a mindset shift where he just got into attack mode and wasn’t trying to be perfect with every single pitch,” Stearns said of Sproat. “Just realized his stuff was really good. … We are looking forward to him continuing to bring that mentality to starts going forward.”
Translation: The Mets want to see more before a promotion.
Without yet dipping into their top prospect pool, the Mets hope they can withstand the injuries.
As the trade deadline approaches, the Mets will have to look at a rotation that at least right now is both ailing and struggling and determine whether upgrades are needed.
“When you go through a stretch like we’ve had, both in terms of injuries and performance,” Stearns said, “we have to take a look at our pitching staff as a whole, do our best to understand why this is happening and certainly see if there are ways we can get better both internally and externally.”
