The Mets’ high-leverage arms finally got a night off Sunday, courtesy of the Dodgers running away with a 14-4 win.
But the late-inning relievers in the Mets bullpen put in a heavy workload in the games leading up to Sunday — including Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia each throwing three straight days — something manager Luis Rojas will be monitoring as the club continues a crucial stretch of 13 games in 13 days.
“We’re in August, guys are going to throw three in a row, they’re going to take that one day off, bounce back and leave their arm out there for the team,” Rojas said before the Dodgers finished off a sweep of the Mets. “But we still want to be smart because we want to finish with these guys and we want them throwing at their best. We are talking about it. We’re paying attention and we’re realistic if they need a day, they need a day and we’ll give it to them.”
Noah Syndergaard (Tommy John surgery) threw another bullpen session on Friday and “felt great,” Rojas said.
“We’re looking at him probably facing batters the next time,” Rojas said. “I don’t know exactly when that’s going to be.”
The Mets hope to get Syndergaard back at some point in September, with acting GM Zack Scott indicating recently that the right-hander could come back as a reliever.
Javier Baez (back spasms) has yet to do any baseball activities since being placed on the 10-day injured list Friday (retroactive to Thursday). He last appeared in a game as a pinch hitter on Wednesday.
Baez is eligible to come off the injured list next Sunday, when the Mets play the Dodgers in Los Angeles, but Rojas said whether that happens depends on his next few days.
“I still want to see how he progresses with the treatment,” Rojas said. “If he’s not able to do those getting close to that 10th day, then it’s probably not realistic he’s just going to get activated without doing anything.”
Monday’s starter, Rich Hill, flew to San Francisco ahead of the team on Sunday. Rojas had initially said that Hill would fly with the team after Sunday’s game, but the club was not expected to arrive in San Francisco until early Monday morning.