The Mets pulled hyped prospect Christian Scott from Monday’s start after just 77 pitches, despite Scott cruising to the tune of one hit allowed over 5.2 innings of work.
The bullpen immediately imploded, as a 2-2 came quickly turned into an 8-2 loss in Pittsburgh, and Carlos Mendoza pointed to a pitch count of roughly 75 pitches for why Scott was pulled.
Sal didn’t accept the explanation, and sounded off on the team for not “prioritizing winning” by handing the ball to a dreadful bullpen in a tie game.
“They did not prioritize winning, and that is unacceptable,” Sal said. “The expectations have been raised, and you are expected to compete legitimately for a Wild Card spot. If you want us as fans to buy in and got to your games and watch your games, the least you can do is compete, and taking Christian Scott out of a game that he was dominating, when he had 77 freaking pitches, that shows me you’re not prioritizing winning. End of story.”
Sal is frustrated with the nature of modern starting pitching in the first place, wanting to see starters go deep into games. But to pull a young arm with less than 80 pitches while he was dealing, to turn it over to a bullpen that has been an issue all year, doesn’t reflect a team that is making winning the game the top priority.
“Somebody on the Mets organization, tell me otherwise,” Sal said. “When I’m watching that game, tell me you’re doing your best to win that game. You can’t. Nobody can tell me they’re doing their best to win that game when you pull a pitcher who is dominating that game for a rookie pitcher and a bullpen that has stunk. I have had it with this team not prioritizing winning.”