Barring an injury to a starting pitcher, it doesn’t appear as if Sean Manaea will be joining the Mets rotation anytime soon.
Despite this stretch of nine straight days with a scheduled game for his team, manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday that he’s sticking with a five-man rotation. In spring training, Mendoza had indicated a six-man rotation was a possibility once the Mets got beyond their early off days in the schedule.
“We’re just going to keep guys with their routines,” Mendoza said before the Mets lost 7-2 to the Diamondbacks at Citi Field. “If we need to go that route, we will. But as I am sitting here, we are not planning on going to a six-man.”
With David Peterson removed after the fifth inning, Manaea was utilized in a second straight extended relief appearance.
He allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks over four innings (70 pitches).
“Each day we’re turning in the right direction,” said Manaea, who was squeezed from the rotation at the end of spring training.
Manaea’s lagging velocity has been part of the issue.
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On this day he averaged 88.4 mph on his four-seam fastball. It was a dip from his previous appearance — he averaged 89.9 mph with that pitch last Thursday.
Manaea was asked for his reaction to hearing he won’t be joining the rotation as a sixth starter.
“No disappointment,” Manaea said. “I am here to help this team win in any way that I can. And right now this is my job to do what I have been doing and I’m very happy doing that.”
Mendoza said the manner in which his starting pitchers have recovered between starts is the biggest factor in wanting to stick with the five-man set.
“We wanted to be flexible and leave it open just in case somebody comes in and says maybe they can use an extra day, then you can always make that adjustment,” Mendoza said. “That was the idea coming out of camp, but here we are now.”
Carson Benge snapped an 0-for-24 with a ninth-inning single.
The hit was Benge’s first in April.
