The New York Mets are making one of the most incomprehensible decisions in baseball right now.
Despite their struggles, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed that the team is keeping Sean Manaea as well as Clay Holmes in the starting rotation.
“We’re counting on them,” Mendoza told Will Sammon of The Athletic. “We need those guys.”
The only thing Manaea is good for right now is eating innings — that’s it. He isn’t pitching at a high level and hasn’t done so since July 29. That was the last time Manaea threw at least five innings and conceded less than three earned runs.
Manaea provides very little value to the Mets rotation right now. Kodai Senga was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse for not performing at the level he should have been, but Manaea gets to keep his spot.
While Manaea isn’t the only problem with the Mets right now, trotting out a pitcher who has posted lackluster performance after lackluster performance is like walking into a burning building.
Mendoza continuing to use Manaea as a starting pitcher is only asking for trouble going into the postseason. New York would be better off using a bullpen game every five days and letting Manaea get work in during that contest.
At best now, the Mets will get into the playoffs via a wild-card spot, and that isn’t even a guarantee anymore. They hold just a two-game lead over the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds for the final wild-card spot with 16 games remaining in the season.
For a team that had World Series aspirations at the beginning of the season, squeaking into the playoffs, if they get in at all, would be an utter failure. Mendoza would be responsible for a strong portion of that failure because of continuing to use Manaea every five days.
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