Reese Kaplan -- Who's Pitching If the Mets Make the Playoffs?

I woke up this morning to read about the Sean Manaea victory on Saturday at Citifield.  Sometimes living a time zone 12 hours different than New York is challenging as a 4:10 PM start in Queens is a 4:10 AM first pitch for me here in Malaysia.  Ah well, the highlight videos from Francisco Alvarez and Luisangel Acuna made me feel better even if I missed it happening live.

This piece today is being written after that game and before the 1:30 AM start for the Sunday afternoon game to close out the Phillies series.  The Mets surely can use that off day on Monday to rest up before tackling the final six games of the year against the still-contending Atlanta Braves and the already-clinched Milwaukee Brewers. 

What crossed my mind today was how the Mets should approach the playoffs.  The starting rotation heads the list.  Right now obviously Sean Manaea will be one of the starters as will Luis Severino.  After that it would seem to get a bit muddier. 

David Peterson is coming off his worst start of the year when the club needed him most.  Everyone is entitled to a bad day now and then.  It will be interesting to see how he fares in the final week in order to see if the game was just a one-off thing or if something was amiss with his health that caused him to alter what had been working so well ever since his late start to the 2024 season.

Then there’s fellow lefty Jose Quintana.  In a short series with off-days between the rounds it’s possible to go with a four man rotation.  Towards that end, it might pay to put the veteran southpaw into the bullpen as a multi-inning arm in the event someone gets shelled early. 

Next to consider is long time wannabe starter Tylor Megill.  This turn in the starting rotation has been far better than ever before and seems to match the first appearances in Spring Training.  Of course, then he went off kilter as is his pattern during his Mets career, so he was not factored into being a long term solution.  Given that he’s pretty much always been a starter in his under-30 career, asking him to transition to the pen now might be too much of a gamble.  Like Peterson, he bears close watching as the Mets finish up the season. 

The wildcard factors in this mix are the possible return of Kodai Senga more likely in a relief role since he hasn’t gotten enough innings in since the last injury to suggest he is ready to go 6 innings. 

Similarly, Jose Butto can handle multiple innings, but it would be foolish right now to remove him from the reliever role where he’s thrived.  After the season ends you can reconsider whether his future is starting or in the pen (particularly with the TJS for Christian Scott).  

One interesting personnel decision to make is if Senga does return to be a relief pitcher then you must contemplate who is going to miss out on playing October baseball.  The candidates are many — the Youngs and Huascar Brazoban.  Reed Garrett, Adam Ottavino, Jose Butto, Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek and Edwin Diaz are safe.  If indeed they go to a four-man rotation and move Quintana into the pen it could mean one of the lefty Youngs going, but Brazoban has visited Syracuse already and not excelled during his Mets career.  They may feel having three lefties in the pen is a better strategy.