NEW YORK -- Even though things haven’t gone perfectly with their starting five in recent days, the Mets will not shift to their original plan of a six-man rotation. At least not yet.
Instead, team officials have been pleased enough with their grouping of Freddy Peralta, David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga that they will leave Sean Manaea in the bullpen for the time being. While it’s possible Manaea could become part of a six-man rotation later in April, the Mets have no concrete plans to make that happen.
“It’s just keeping guys with their routines,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday at Citi Field. “If we need to go that route, we will go. But as I’m sitting here, we are not planning on going to a six-man. … It’s still early. We don’t see it as a necessity right now to go that way.”
Those comments came before Peterson blew up for five runs in the first and second innings of a 7-2 loss to the Diamondbacks, which saw Manaea also allow two runs in long relief. Peterson’s ERA ballooned to 6.14 through three starts and 8.05 over his last 11 outings dating to last season.
Still, Mendoza said afterward, the Mets have no plans to make a rotation change.
“If he’s healthy, which he is, there’s no concern,” Mendoza said of Peterson. “He’s too good of a pitcher. He’s been our guy. We’ve just got to make a couple of adjustments there.”
How long things might stay this way isn’t entirely clear. All spring, Mets officials talked both privately and publicly about the idea of using a six-man rotation. It’s not a foreign concept for the Mets, who inserted a sixth starter into the rotation multiple times last year to keep their other pitchers sharp. This year, the plan seemed like it would involve more regular use of a sixth man.
But just before Opening Day, Mendoza announced that Manaea would move to the bullpen for at least two rotation turns, after which team officials would re-evaluate the situation. The Mets are now not only onto their third rotation turn, but also in a stretch of nine consecutive games without an off-day. Still, they will continue using their top five starters on regular rest.
“It’s just where we’re at right now with this turn, where everyone is at and how they’re bouncing back,” Mendoza said. “I think that’s the bottom line. We wanted to be flexible. We wanted to leave it open just to make sure that [if] somebody comes in and says, ‘Hey man, I might need an extra day,’ then you can always make an adjustment. That was the whole idea coming out of camp.”
The Mets entered Wednesday ranked 12th in the Majors in rotation ERA. They were averaging 5 1/3 innings per outing from their starters, which also ranked in the top half of the league. But that was before Peterson allowed five runs in five innings to the D-backs. The good news was that he recovered to retire 11 of the next 12 batters he faced after Corbin Carroll’s two-run double in the second, chalking his issues up more to pitch selection and sequencing than execution. Peterson’s ability to find his groove more quickly could be crucial, considering his next start is scheduled for Monday against the Dodgers.
“It doesn’t matter where my next one is,” Peterson said. “Fix what happened and move forward. It doesn’t matter who we’re going up against or where it is.”
Asked what his confidence level is in his ability to fix things, Peterson responded: “Extremely high.”
As for Manaea, he threw 74 pitches in relief last Thursday in San Francisco and reported comfort in that role, before finishing Wednesday’s loss with 70 additional pitches over four innings of two-run ball. While Manaea would prefer to start, his ability to stay stretched out in the bullpen has given the Mets flexibility with how they can use him.
At some point, the Mets could also turn to Tobias Myers as a starting option, though he’s no longer stretched out to the same extent as Manaea. Two other rotation options, Jonah Tong and Christian Scott, have struggled in the Minors.
“No disappointment,” Manaea said of his role. “I’m here to help this team win any way that I can. Right now, this is my job is to do what I’ve been doing, and I’m very happy doing that. We’ve got five really, really good starting pitchers, and I’ll clean up whatever I can.”