These Mets are an improvisational troupe — and a baseball team. Throw out a scenario and see what the organization can do with it.
How about a one-inning start Tuesday that abuses an already overtaxed pen, then add a few more injuries? And … scene.
For the Mets that was eight transactions, a starting pitcher making his major league debut and a lineup not made public until about 75 minutes before first pitch because these days the team has a Ripken-esque MRI streak and it is hard to finalize decisions until every medical report has been read.
“There are a lot of moving parts right now,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said.
That can be the 2021 Met motto — a lot of moving parts. Trevor Megill, not particularly on the radar when this season began, became the Mets’ 12th starting pitcher. Corey Oswalt, also promoted Wednesday, became their 48th player used. They teamed to allow three runs, but more importantly cover 6 2/3 innings because, in Rojas’ words, the squad “emptied the tank with our bullpen” 24 hours earlier when Marcus Stroman hurt his hip and only provided one inning.
When asked after a 7-3 victory over the Braves which relievers were unavailable, Rojas braced reporters for a long list by asking, “You ready?”
“It’s every day it feels like we get some new guys and they jump right in,” Michael Conforto said.
The Mets’ resourcefulness and resilience have been major assets this year, though not as big an asset as Jacob deGrom or the blessing beyond their control — just how underwhelming the challenge has been from an NL East that was supposed to be so much better.
It feels, in fact, like this will be a division of regret — we just don’t know whose yet: The Mets for not being even a touch healthier and running away with the NL East? Or the other NL East “contenders” for failing to capitalize on the Mets in their HMO phase.
While the Mets received competent work from Megill and Oswalt, Atlanta’s emergency starter, Kyle Wright was pummeled for five runs in two innings. The Braves had to use him because their rotation injuries have left them nowhere to turn. So on Thursday, they will try a bullpen game when they open a series against the Reds.
The Met pursuer with the most momentum right now is the Nationals. They rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 9-5 Wednesday to beat the Phillies 13-12, the Nats’ ninth win in 10 games. But Washington continues to be top heavy, loaded with stars, but a dubious supporting cast. The Phillies’ bullpen, like in 2020, again appears a daily sieve and their manager Joe Girardi is so stressed that he is making his clenched-jawed Yankee years seem like his serene period.
The Mets are off Thursday then, with a double-header Friday against the Phillies, they begin a stretch of playing 17 straight days (18 games) without one off leading to the All-Star Game. That will put greater duress on a roster already besieged and beleaguered.
On Wednesday, Tomas Nido became the 23rd different Met to go on the injured list, though Conforto returned to the No. 3 slot in the lineup. This has been so much of the Met season with injuries — one step forward, one limp back. But the lineup is beginning to move toward whole. Conforto, Pete Alonso, Luis Guillorme, Jeff McNeil and Kevin Pillar were all in that late-arriving lineup Wednesday and all had come off the IL since May 31.
Conforto smashed a 110.1-mph double to help fuel a two-run first and the Mets never trailed. McNeil had three hits, combining with Francisco Lindor and Conforto to form a lineup top three that went 7-for-13 with four RBIs and five runs as the Mets maintained the majors’ largest division lead — four games.
The Mets, more than any other NL East contender, has done well at internally problem solving and maybe J.D. Davis and Brandon Nimmo are in the near future to further deepen the lineup. But, you know, one step forward, one limp back. With these Mets you brace for the next MRI report. You eye that next moving part. You can’t assume they will be whole at any point.
They are in first place because they have ad-libbed so well through the medical procedures and the relentless roster manipulation. But also because the rest of the division is not making them hurt enough.