Mets' Carlos Mendoza seeks winning formula, but chemistry can be lacking
Mets relief pitcher Gregory Soto throws during the fifth inning on Wednesday against the Tigers in Detroit. Credit: AP/Ryan Sun
Consider Wednesday’s matinee at Detroit’s Comerica Park the blueprint for how the Mets are going to lose games through the end of September.
Starting pitcher goes fewer than five innings. Check.
Juan Soto slips from supernatural to average. Check.
The offense doesn’t put up at least a touchdown. Check.
Carlos Mendoza willfully chooses to hand the baseball to Ryan Helsley in a high-leverage situation. Check.
All of those added up to a 6-2 loss Wednesday that denied the Mets a sweep of the Tigers, still the team with the AL’s best record, but it didn’t have to be that way. In fact, this was a very winnable game for Mendoza & Co. right up until Helsley trotted in from the bullpen to start the seventh inning.
Like clockwork, in the span of 15 pitches, Helsley flipped the Tigers’ slim 3-2 edge into a 6-2 cushion, courtesy of a leadoff single, walk and three-run homer by Kerry Carpenter. All of that happened before Helsley could even record an out, and in doing so, his ERA ballooned to 11.45 in 14 appearances since being acquired as the crowning piece to the Mets’ supposed super-pen.
“I thought today was a good lane for him,” Mendoza said. “Look, we acquired this guy, we believe in this guy and I keep saying, in order for us to get where we want to get, we’re going to need him.”
In theory, Mendoza makes a convincing argument. But choosing the seventh inning of a one-run game, against the top of a dangerous Tigers’ lineup, just doesn’t feel like a “good lane” for an uprooted St. Louis relief pitcher whose head has been spinning more than his slider lately. That was not the time to be work-shopping through Helsley’s problems, and judging by the results, he’s still not ready for such an assignment.
We get where Mendoza is coming from. If not the seventh, then when? Helsley’s fastball averages 99.4 mph. Last season for the Cardinals, he led the majors with 49 saves. But right this minute, Helsley is a flat-out liability, a hazard to the Mets’ playoff chances, and must be used accordingly.
“Just trying to get back to the basics and start at square one,” Helsley said. “Try to get back to form, be myself and help the team win.”
The Mets obviously had big plans for Helsley, along with Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto, the other two high-leverage relievers picked up at the deadline. But the season is now at the stage where winning takes priority over the fixing part, and while those two things certainly can be done simultaneously, you have to minimize the damage on the field during that process.
And it’s not just Helsley. He happens to be the most obvious example because of the loud explosions recently. The Mets finally seem prepared to remove Kodai Senga from the rotation, going as far as to ask if he’ll accept a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse, and Sean Manaea should be next in line for a reduced role.
Because it’s not about repairing these players necessarily as much as making sure the Mets are functioning at optimal performance down the stretch. It would be great if Helsley, Senga and Manaea were pitching like the elite talents they’re supposed to be. But frankly, the Mets shouldn’t need those DIY projects to hold off the Reds or Giants, especially in their current states.
As they head to Cincy this weekend for a wild-card showdown, and then to Philadelphia for maybe a crack at the fading division title, the Mets are in a good place, October-wise, up 4 1/2 games with 22 to play (and trailing the Padres by only 1 1/2 games for the second spot). They knocked around the Tigers for two days in Motown, scoring a total of 22 runs in the pair of victories, and Soto is at the peak of his powers. He’s hitting .303 (30-for-99) with 12 homers, 28 RBIs and a 1.178 OPS over his last 28 games (his 220 wRC+ is tops in the majors over that span, far outpacing runner-up Brice Turang at 197 and Shohei Ohtani is third at 189).
Even Clay Holmes, who everyone figured would need to tap out this late from exhaustion, guarded a 1-1 tie into the fifth inning Wednesday before Gregory Soto teed up the two-out, two-run single to Riley Greene that ultimately stuck Holmes with the loss. It’s debatable whether or not Mendoza should’ve stuck with Holmes (at 85 pitches) to face Greene again after previously striking him out twice (the matchups favored going with the lefty). But that’s why the Mets traded for Soto, and the move was a bad one primarily because it didn’t work.
Plus, Nolan McLean — helped by the two-touchdown offense — essentially gave the bullpen Tuesday night off. Count McLean among the on-the-fly adjustments that will get the Mets to October, along with Jonah Tong and presumably Brandon Sproat shortly. Those young guns, teamed with Soto’s MVP push and the Mets well-balanced, prolific offense should — in Mendoza’s parlance — get them where they want to go.
“We just got to be ourselves,” Holmes said. “And I think who we are is really good. If we just show up and continue to try to win each pitch and win each inning, it could be a really good week for us.”
The Mets need to be smart who gets those pitches and innings. The winning should follow.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
