Brandon Sproat’s impressive Citi Field debut got the young guns back on track.
The Mets, in general, not so much.
The rookie righty worked six scoreless innings in his first home start, but another flush job by the bullpen resulted in an eighth straight Mets loss Saturday, 3-2 to the Rangers.
One day after fellow rookie Jonah Tong was rocked for six runs in the first inning, the 24-year-old Sproat scattered six hits in his six frames.
He didn’t walk anyone and mostly pitched to contact, with three strikeouts in an efficient 70-pitch outing.
Carlos Mendoza explained that he turned over a 2-0 lead to the pen in the seventh after noticing a dip in Sproat’s velocity and some hard contact by the Rangers in the sixth.
“Even though there were only 70 pitches, when you look up in that inning, there was a big-time velo drop,” Mendoza said. “Like 5-6 mph, from like 97-98 to 93, and there were some hard-hit balls there.
“He got through that inning, and I checked with him, like, ‘Physically, are you fine?’ He said yes, but I said, ‘I’m gonna go to the bullpen here.’ He wanted to keep going and you respect that. But when you’re watching an inning like that … he’s a guy that holds his velo. So I wasn’t going to take any chances.”
Mendoza then insisted “no, not at all” when asked the natural follow-up question about any potential concern over Sproat’s physical condition.
The rookie also dismissed those queries, saying multiple times, “I’m good,” afterward.
“My goal is to just go out there and pitch as long as I can, compete for as long as I can until they take the ball from me,” Sproat said. “I respect their call. That’s his call. Obviously I never want the ball taken from me, I’m a competitor. I wanted to keep going, but I trust his decision and trust the bullpen behind me.”
Tyler Rogers and Edwin Díaz combined to give up three runs in the eighth and ninth innings to cost Sproat his first big league win.
Sproat suffered the loss despite a quality start — three runs over six innings — in his MLB debut last Sunday against the Reds.
The 2023 second-round pick made it through six scoreless this time, lowering his ERA to 2.25, with a third straight rookie, Nolan McLean (4-1, 1.42 ERA), slated to start Sunday’s series finale.
“[Sproat] was good. That sinker was good. He kept getting ground balls,” Mendoza said. “I thought the sinker was his pitch today, and then he went to the sweeper. He used all of his pitches. He threw strikes. He attacked. Weak contact. I thought overall he was solid.
“That’s back-to-back outings that we’ve seen it. He knows where we’re at. For him to go out there, that’s a hot lineup right now, and he kind of shut them down. Some really positive signs out of him.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
