Monday’s off-day is looming as an important talk-it-through day for the Mets, who repeatedly say they will get “creative” with a rotation that has six members and a seventh a level below trying to prove himself.
Manager Carlos Mendoza did not commit to Jonah Tong receiving another start after Friday’s disastrous effort, which coincided with an encouraging outing from Kodai Senga with Triple-A Syracuse.
Tong could not record a third out in the first inning, charged with six runs on four hits and three walks over 40 pitches in an 8-3 loss to the Rangers at Citi Field.
“We’ll see” if Tong makes another start, Mendoza said. It is possible the top prospect could be used in a tandem with another starting pitcher.
Tong was far stronger in his first two starts — allowing five earned runs in 11 innings against the Marlins and Reds — before the Rangers displayed patience against a pitcher who induced far more chases in the minors. Of the first 19 pitches Texas batters saw, they swung once, and two walks began their rally.
Senga, meanwhile, debuted with Syracuse and allowed one run on three hits and no walks in six innings while striking out eight.
The former ace, who was an All-Star in 2023 and on an All-Star trajectory this season — before a right hamstring strain sidelined him and he returned with miserable results — had been expected to receive multiple minor league starts, although the Mets now have a decision to make.
Senga cannot be recalled (barring an injury to another Met) until Sept. 20.
Of the current group, Nolan McLean has earned a spot and Brandon Sproat had a strong debut.
Sean Manaea and Clay Holmes, whose stuff has intrigued but who has not been able to pitch deep into games, seem to be piggyback candidates.
David Peterson, who had struggled in six starts, was OK (three runs in five innings) in Philadelphia on Thursday.
Francisco Alvarez (2-for-3) launched an opposite-field, solo home run in the third for the first Mets run.
Huascar Brazobán went 3 ¹/₃ scoreless innings in relief of Tong, the second-longest scoreless outing of his career.
After three games of being out of the starting lineup, Cedric Mullins received another chance on Friday and went 1-for-3 with a single off Jacob deGrom.
The struggling center fielder, now part of a platoon at the position, had sat against a trio of Phillies lefty starting pitchers, when righty-hitting Jose Siri started twice and Jeff McNeil moved to center field for Thursday’s loss on the road in Philadelphia.
The trade-deadline pickup from the Orioles had been struggling mightily, with a slash line of .183/.297/.280 in his first 31 games with the Mets, before Siri was activated and asked to play immediately in part because of Mullins’ rough stretch.
Several hours before every game, Mullins is part of the Mets contingent who show up for early work — a batting practice before a more official batting practice — usually with co-hitting coach Jeremy Barnes.
The Mets have been working with Mullins on a more direct path to the ball, feeling he has not been quick enough particularly on pitches on the inside of the plate.
“The thing that we’ve talked to him about is not losing things behind him, getting out in front,” Barnes said this week. “People have tried to pound him in, right, and … if I get my hands lost behind me, I can’t get there.”
The Mets held a moment of silence for former manager Davey Johnson, who died Sept. 5 at 82.
“Davey was one of the most selfless star players that I was ever around,” said Bobby Valentine, who was Johnson’s third base coach in 1984 and later coached for him with the Reds. “Using data was a strength of Davey’s, Earl’s [Weaver], mine, that we wanted more information. Davey didn’t think he knew it all. He liked to look at the stats, and then he could see things better, as people do today with the analytics. Analytics are just a vision and answer, right? That’s all analytics are. … Davey got that early. Davey was cool.”
Tylor Megill (elbow tightness) is still seeking doctors’ opinions, Mendoza said.
— Additional reporting by Peter Botte
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
