NEW YORK — The Mets have gone from surplus to scarcity in their starting rotation with alarming speed.
On Thursday, Paul Blackburn became the fourth member of New York’s rotation to land on the injured list in the last three weeks, joining Kodai Senga, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning. Sean Manaea, of course, has been on the IL all season with an oblique injury.
With Blackburn out, the Mets have to cobble a rotation together for the next week before reinforcements hopefully arrive just ahead of the All-Star break. The timing is suboptimal: New York has lost 14 of 18 going into Thursday night’s rubber game against Milwaukee, and it welcomes in the rival Yankees for three games this weekend.
“Every option is on the table,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Thursday, mentioning openers, bullpen days, minor-league promotions or external additions. “I do think we have options to get through this.
What’s the short-term plan?
As it stands, the Mets plan to start Justin Hagenman, Frankie Montas and Brandon Waddell for the Subway Series, people familiar with the situation said. While Hagenman has pitched solidly in two major-league appearances this season, he owns an ERA over six in Triple A. Montas was rocked during his rehab assignment and in the second of his two big-league starts this year against Pittsburgh last weekend. And although Waddell has been a capable long man for the Mets of late, he’s never started a game in the majors and hasn’t pitched as many as five innings in a game at any level since late May.
The Mets could opt to use an opener ahead of Hagenman and/or Waddell, as they did earlier this season for both. They did that again Wednesday night in front of rookie Blade Tidwell.
What’s the timetable for help?
The good news is the rotation could be supplemented quickly. Manaea will make his sixth rehab start Tuesday, and the hope is he can then return to the big-league rotation on July 13 in Kansas City, the final game ahead of the All-Star break.
“I felt good today, so that was a huge plus,” Manaea said Thursday. “Definitely very encouraging.”
Senga will make a rehab start for Double-A Binghamton this weekend, likely Saturday. If all goes well, that would be the only rehab appearance he needs, and he could return to start the series opener against the Royals on July 11.
Blackburn’s shoulder impingement should only require a shutdown of three to five days, meaning his stint on the IL could be closer to the minimum. He could be an option for the rotation shortly after the All-Star break.
Megill still hasn’t started throwing, so he’s further away. Canning, of course, is out for the season.
Why not promote Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat?
Stearns has remained consistent: He does not like calling up prospects for spot starts, preferring to provide them with a longer runway to adapt to the big-league game. That’s how he played it with Christian Scott last year.
That being said, sometimes your preferences are a luxury you can’t afford.
“Allowing a pitcher, especially a top-prospect pitcher, to have that runway can be helpful sometimes, both from a physical and a psychological standpoint,” Stearns said. “There’s also the reality of a baseball season that you have to get through. So you don’t always get to follow the perfect path.”
Right-handers McLean and Sproat are the Mets’ top prospects in Triple A. McLean, who was scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, has performed well (2.72 ERA, 49 2/3 innings), but the Mets still want to see him make improvements in specific areas, like against left-handed batters. Sproat is coming off his best start, but has mostly struggled in Triple A (6.05 ERA in 96 2/3 innings at the level).
“We saw, as much as anything, a little bit of a mindset shift where he just got into attack mode and wasn’t trying to be perfect with every single pitch,” Stearns said of Sproat’s latest outing (six scoreless innings Saturday).
What’s the trickle-down effect on the bullpen?
Allowing Blackburn to return after a 90-minute rain delay in his last start, Carlos Mendoza said, had something to do with the injury.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Mendoza said, “and here we are now.”
The Mets made such a call because of the state of their bullpen. On Wednesday, Clay Holmes became the first Mets starter to record an out in the sixth inning of a game since David Peterson did on June 17 (span of 12 games between occurrences). And Holmes lasted just 5 1/3 innings.
The Mets placed right-hander Dedniel Núñez on the injured list Thursday with an elbow sprain, though the club is not ruling out Tommy John surgery. Núñez had recently shown flashes of the form he showed last year when he emerged as a top setup option. The Mets’ list of high-leverage options ahead of Edwin Díaz consists of Ryne Stanek, Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazobán and José Buttó. But as the Mets continue to lean on them, Garrett and Brazobán have struggled.
Since June 13, the Mets have used a whopping 18 relievers (including outfielder Travis Jankowski). As part of a series of roster moves ahead of Thursday’s game, they selected right-hander Rico Garcia, who has not appeared in a major-league game since 2023.
(Photo of Paul Blackburn: Justin Berl / Getty Images)