Devin Williams spent Thursday night with some of his new pitching coaches with the Mets looking at video of what’s gone wrong for him this season.
“He’s not feeling sorry for himself,” manager Carlos Mendoza said of the closer, who has been scored upon in each of his last four appearances and allowed multiple base runners in six straight outings heading into Friday’s 4-3 loss to the Rockies in which he did not pitch.
“They’re looking for what’s missing here,’’ Mendoza said. “He knows what he needs to do to get out of it. He’ll continue to get opportunities [as closer].”
Williams’ changeup, which helped make him one of the most dominant relievers in the game — at least until Pete Alonso homered off him in the 2024 playoffs — has been hit hard this season, as batters are feasting on it.
President of baseball operations David Stearns said Williams’ “changeup hasn’t been exactly where he wants it yet.”
And his four-seam fastball hasn’t been much more effective.
Pitching coach Justin Willard said they are working on some minor tweaks and said he does not believe Williams is pitching poorly because of playing in New York — even as he’s struggled as a closer in The Bronx and Queens.
“That guy has the slowest heartbeat I’ve ever been around,” Willard said. “It’s not the atmosphere. It’s minor tweaks to get him back to the level he wants to be at, which is one of the best to have ever done this.”
The rest of the bullpen is a bit of a mess, as well, with the Mets going with David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Tobias Myers — all options to be in the rotation — pitching in relief.
Mendoza acknowledged Friday that might not be sustainable — and that was before Manaea threw 3 ¹/₃ innings out of the bullpen in Friday’s loss, striking out seven and throwing 61 pitches.
Before the game, Christian Scott was optioned to Syracuse after he struggled Thursday in his return from Tommy John surgery. Scott walked five in just 1 ¹/₃ innings, but the move to Triple-A was not a product of his poor outing, according to Mendoza.
“It had nothing to do with [Thursday] night,’’ the manager said. “The message was, ‘Flush that one, go back and you’re going to start a lot of games here.’ ”
Since they needed an arm capable of providing length out of the pen, veteran right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. was recalled from Triple-A.
The 34-year-old Edwards has spent parts of 11 seasons in the majors.
Peterson, who has pitched well in long relief after three straight poor starts, may replace Scott in the rotation and will almost certainly pitch on Wednesday, either in a start or after an opener.
Kodai Senga starts Saturday after two of the worst outings of his career.
Despite his subpar performance, Stearns said a move to the bullpen hasn’t been considered.
“We’ve seen flashes from Kodai,” Stearns said. “We haven’t seen consistency. We’re banking on the flashes and him continuing to get into the rhythm of the season, but we need more consistency.”
Jorge Polanco, nursing a right wrist contusion and a sore left Achilles, began baseball activities Friday, but is “week to week” according to Stearns.
Whenever he does return, the Mets still hope to include him in the first base mix since they want flexibility at DH, especially with Juan Soto still being protected after his return from his calf strain. … The Mets have lost the opening game of their last five series.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
