After a grueling stretch to end the regular season and begin the playoffs, the Mets’ bullpen has gotten some time off recently.
For the first time in what feels like forever, the Mets’ bullpen is starting to get a little bit of rest. Following an eight-game stretch in just seven days to clinch a playoff spot and defeat the Brewers in the Wild Card round, the team has gotten a couple of much-needed off days ahead of and during this NLDS against the Phillies.
Throw in Sean Manaea’s seven innings of work in Game 3, Luis Severino’s six innings in Game 2, and the five innings that the Mets got from the duo of Kodai Senga and David Peterson in Game 1, and the bullpen has had a pretty normal workload over the past few days.
And thanks to FanGraphs’ Roster Resource, it’s quick and easy to take a look at which pitchers have over the past six days, how many pitches they’ve thrown, and how many days off they’ve had.
2+ days of rest
The bulk of the Mets’ bullpen falls into this category, as only two relievers appeared in the team’s Game 3 win.
- Edwin Díaz: last pitched on Sunday, 10/6, 25 pitches
- José Buttó: last pitched on Sunday, 10/6, 15 pitches
- Reed Garrett: last pitched on Saturday, 10/5, 23 pitches
- David Peterson: last pitched on Saturday, 10/5, 50 pitches
- Adam Ottavino: last pitched on Monday, 9/30, hasn’t pitched in the postseason
- Danny Young: last pitched on Saturday, 9/28, hasn’t pitched in the postseason
- Tylor Megill: last pitched on Sunday, 10/6, 33 pitches
Zero rest
The Mets’ bullpen only threw a total of 36 pitches in Game 3, but Phil Maton’s outing accounted for most of those pitches, many of which were highly stressful.
- Phil Maton: last pitched on Tuesday, 10/8, 23 pitches
- Ryne Stanek: last pitched on Tuesday, 10/8, 13 pitches
The road ahead
If the Mets were to get a lengthy start out of Jose Quintana in Game 4 tonight, they’d presumably love to stick to some combination of Reed Garrett, José Buttó, and Edwin Díaz in the late innings. But it’s worth noting that Stanek had two days off before his appearance last night. Whether or not he can pitch again today likely has as much to do with his up-down between finishing the eighth and pitching the ninth.
Maton also had two days off between appearances ahead of the one he made last night, and Carlos Mendoza has demonstrated recently that he’s willing to send him out there multiple days in a row. The results haven’t been Maton’s best work in this stretch, however, and it’s probably ideal to give him a night off if at all possible.
Peterson and Megill are both in somewhat uncharted waters, as both have been starting pitchers all year and have relatively lengthy relief outings without a starter’s typical recovery time. Both are probably available if needed, though, and the Mets used Peterson to record a huge save against the Brewers in their clincher in Milwaukee on Thursday night.
And that leaves the forgotten pair: Ottavino and Young. It’s been so long since either one pitched that the Mets would presumably need to have a big lead before either one makes an appearance.
Overall, this group doesn’t look particularly overworked in recent days, and that’s a plus. That doesn’t guarantee anything the rest of the way, but Carlos Mendoza should at least have multiple options available to him for any type of scenario the team might encounter.