NEW YORK -- The Mets will not be going to a six-man rotation as originally planned. At least not right now.
Instead, team officials have been pleased enough with their starting five 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. “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.”
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 their rotation multiple times last year to keep other starters 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 reevaluate 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.
As for Manaea, he threw 74 pitches in relief last Thursday in San Francisco and reported comfort in that role. 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.
“Nothing changes with his role,” Mendoza said, before adding: “But again, who knows what happens in the next few days? Somebody comes in and says, ‘Hey, I might need to use that extra day.’ And then if we’ve got the players available, we’ll make some adjustments. It will be fluid. It will continue to be flexible.”