CINCINNATI — With just over a week remaining and the Mets still mathematically alive in the NL wild-card race, manager Mickey Callaway is considering every pitching scenario.
And Friday he decided that flipping Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman in the rotation will give the Mets their best chance in Sunday’s series finale against the Reds.
The switch will allow a fly-ball pitcher (Matz) who has struggled on the road this season to avoid bandbox Great American Ball Park and let a ground-ball pitcher (Stroman) start instead.
Matz, who has pitched to a 6.62 ERA on the road this season, will move to Monday against the Marlins at Citi Field.
Callaway also said Jacob deGrom — whose final start is scheduled for Wednesday against the Marlins — could conceivably pitch the regular-season finale a week from Sunday if the Mets need to win for a playoff berth. That would leave Noah Syndergaard in line as the starter for a potential wild-card game.
And there is always the possibility of one or more tiebreaker games before the wild card.
“I am sure that could happen and then we would have lots of good starters,” Callaway said. “If it comes down to it you might see Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom pitching the last day of the season to try and get something.”Robert Gsellman threw his third bullpen session in the past week, leaving Mets officials to decide if he should be slotted for live batting practice, possibly the last step before he is cleared to rejoin the team. The right-hander has been on the injured list since Aug. 14 with a partially torn lat.
J.D. Davis returned to the starting lineup in left field after sitting out the previous two games following a collision with the left-field fence at Coors Field. Jeff McNeil was at third base, keeping Todd Frazier on the bench. Davis went 0-for-3 with a walk in the Mets’ 8-1 victory.
Pete Alonso has homered in 16 ballparks this season. The Reds became the 18th team he has homered against.