State of Mets' rotation with Zach Thornton instead of Tong for now
Mets' pitchers face challenges after a 12-inning win, with injuries to key starters and a grueling run of games making deeper starts critical.
WASHINGTON, D. C. — For close to 15 minutes after the completion of the Mets' chaotic 16-7 victory in 12 innings over the Nationals, Mets brass met to discuss the state of the team's pitching staff.
Carlos Mendoza had emptied the tank to try and score the team's third straight win. The Mets manager deployed six separate relievers across nine innings to keep the Nationals down. Another — Mets newcomer Daniel Duarte, who was called up earlier in the day — was warming in the 12th.
It is one of the fears with the way the Mets rotation is constructed at this point in the season. Sean Manaea and David Peterson, who were once in the rotation, now find seats in the bullpen, albeit in different roles. And the starting unit has been tagged by injuries, with Kodai Senga working back from lumbar spine inflammation and Clay Holmes now down with a fractured fibula.
That construction makes the job of the team's starting pitchers to get deep in games all the more important. "At whatever point in the regular season, starting pitching is always the key for guys to go deep in games," Mendoza said before the game. "But I also feel like we've been able to do a good job of protecting guys, giving guys days off and we feel very good with where they're at and how they're throwing the baseball.
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