The Mets’ rotation stays establishment — for now, not less than.
There have been no discussions about eradicating rookie Jonah Tong following Friday evening’s lopsided loss, whereas Kodai Senga is ready to make a second begin at Triple-A Syracuse as he works towards a return to type, supervisor Carlos Mendoza stated Saturday.
Mendoza was noncommittal about Tong’s spot on Friday evening after the 22-year-old surrendered six runs in ⅔ of an inning in opposition to the Texas Rangers in his third profession begin.
Requested once more Saturday if Tong would stay within the rotation, Mendoza stated, “Right now, he is.”
“We gotta get through the off day [on Monday],” Mendoza stated. “We said we were going to get creative, but we haven’t had conversations about not having Jonah start a game. Again, it’s fluid, but as of right now, he is in the rotation.”
Tong, one of many Mets’ high prospects, is 1-2 with an 8.49 ERA since being referred to as up late final month.
He led the minor leagues in ERA (1.43) and strikeouts (179) over 22 begins, however solely two of these got here on the Triple-A degree.
Tong was visibly emotional throughout his postgame press convention on Friday evening.
“He’ll move on,” Mendoza stated. “He’ll learn. He’s already thinking about the next one. That gives me and all of us confidence.”
Mendoza stated he spoke with Tong on Friday evening and once more on Saturday.
“It was pretty telling for me to see all the veterans, pretty much the whole team, supporting him last night,” Mendoza stated. “It goes to show you that not only do we have really good players, but we’ve got really good people there that care about each other and have each other’s back.”
Senga, in the meantime, allowed one run over six innings with Triple-A Syracuse on Friday evening, placing out eight with out issuing a stroll in opposition to the Worcester Purple Sox. He threw 52 of his 74 pitches for strikes.
That was Senga’s first begin since he was optioned to Triple-A every week earlier in an try and right his prolonged struggles.
“He was very good,” Mendoza stated. “When you look at the numbers, no walks, the strikeouts, the way he used all of his pitches. The main thing is he threw strikes, he attacked, and pretty much every pitch was working, so that’s a really good sign.”
Senga is 7-6 with a 3.02 ERA, however he went 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA and 24 walks in 39.2 innings over 9 begins after returning in mid-July from a hamstring pressure.
The appropriate-hander is just not eligible to return to the majors till Sept. 20.
“[We will] see how he responds [over] the next few days, continue to work on his mechanics, but the plan is for him to make another one,” Mendoza stated.
ALUMNI CLASSIC
Saturday afternoon marked the first-ever Alumni Traditional sport, which pitted former Mets from two totally different eras in opposition to one another.
Matt Harvey, Johan Santana, Carlos Beltrán, José Reyes, Mike Piazza and Bartolo Colón had been amongst these to look within the sport at Citi Discipline, which led to a 2-2 tie after 2 ½ innings.
Kelly Johnson and Josh Satin had an RBI apiece for “Team Citi Field,” whereas Jay Payton delivered a run-scoring double and Reyes scored on a wild pitch for “Team Shea Stadium.”
Turk Wendell left with an obvious damage.
ROOKIE REVELATIONS
The long run is vibrant for the Mets’ rookie starters.
That’s in keeping with two males who know one thing about pitching — Santana and Pedro Martinez — who each stated Saturday that they like what they see in Tong, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat.
“They’ve got great arms,” Santana stated. “I think they’ve got great futures. I think it’s a matter of time for them to blend in, and then a few more games to get their feet wet the right way. It’s a great talent that they have, and I’m looking forward to it.”
McLean, Tong and Sproat had been all ranked inside the Mets’ top-five prospects earlier than they joined the big-league rotation in fast succession after the All-Star break.
Pitching in a pennant race now can serve them effectively, Martinez stated.
“The good thing is if they happen to have success right now being rookies, by the second year, they [will] feel like they can be successful at a very early age,” Martinez stated. “That’s what we want. We want to see the young players develop quickly.”
