Apparently This Roster Is Callaway’s Fault

Last night, Mickey Callaway trusted Seth Lugo to finish the seventh inning over Noah Syndergaard. Even with Syndergaard cruising, the numbers were the numbers. As a result, Callaway decided to go with his best reliever to get the team a win rather than let Syndergaard get himself into a jam. It didn’t work out.

Sometimes managers make the right move, and it doesn’t work,. Sometimes, you want the managers to have a feel for the game and stick with their starters. After all, that was the justification for Terry Collins sticking with Matt Harvey, and we know how that ended.

But it’s not just Collins/Harvey, it’s also Callaway/Syndergaard.

Take the April 10th game against the Twins as an example. Syndergaard allowed one earned on two hits. He came out to start the eighth, and he allowed three straight hits starting what was a four run inning which chased him from the game.

There have been a number of instances all year where Syndergaard was cruising and just like that he lost it. There was the game against the Tigers where he struggled in the first two, but seemed to settle down only to allow homers in back-to-back innings. There was also his game against the Padres where he allowed homers, and as he got deeper into the game, he began to allow more base hits.

If we’re being honest, while Syndergaard has been much better starting May 1, he still has his issues while he is struggling with this slider. He’s allowed the most hits in the majors. He has a 4.83 ERA, 83 ERA+, and a 3.60 FIP. He’s allowed the most hits in the majors. Most of his numbers, including his strikeout rate, now stand at career worsts.

This isn’t the 2016 Syndergaard who was one of the best pitchers in baseball. This is a very talented pitcher impressively gutting through starts giving his team a chance to win while he’s still trying to rediscover pitches he’s lost due to the new ball.

Point is, we have seen Syndergaard lose it this year at a moment’s notice. It’s one of the reasons why Mets fans and reporters have jumped at the chance to criticize him all year long. But now, all of a sudden, everyone gets amnesia and pretends like they didn’t say the things they said about him about a week ago.

While you can defend keeping Syndergaard in, you can also realize why Callaway would go to Lugo. What you don’t understand is the composition of the roster and why there hasn’t been more attention focused upon it.

Right now, this team has only two reliable bullpen arms – Lugo and Edwin Diaz. That’s it.

In yesterday’s game, the Mets started J.D. Davis in left field and Carlos Gomez in center. They rushed Jeff McNeil off of the IL. Against a Giants bullpen, they mustered just four singles over the final four innings. They played poor defense in the field.

When Lugo blew the lead, eventually Callaway had to go to Robert Gsellman. Now, Callaway does deserve blame for completely overusing Gsellman. It’s led to him being terrible. However, as bad as he is, Callaway’s other options are worse. Honestly, in a pressure spot who do you want him to pick:

Looking at those options and the players who currently comprise the roster, you see that even with Callaway’s faults, this is on Brodie Van Wagenen and the just ridiculously bad offseason he had.

Take into consideration the fact he gave Jed Lowrie a two year $20 million deal. That’s $20 million to a 35 year old with a knee issue. In true J.J. Putz fashion, the Mets didn’t discover anything during the physical before the deal was consummated.

In lieu of that $20 million, the team could have signed Adam Jones ($3 million) and Greg Holland ($3.25 million) and saved some money to add another bench piece or reliever. The point is the Mets needed more depth in the outfield and the bullpen, and Van Wagenen instead opted on another infielder.

Sure, we can criticize Callaway for his faults, but this isn’t on him. This was a poorly constructed roster, and it will remain that way even if he’s fired and the team replaces him with Jim Riggleman, Joe Girardi, Buck Showalter, or whoever else you could conjure up.

So go ahead, blow up at Callaway for using a terrific reliever while pulling a starter you have likely been killing all year. Get angry with him for putting in one of his not up to the task relievers in a spot. Get upset when the offense full of bench players and Triple-A starters can’t score runs in a close game.

Certainly, he’s the issue here and not Van Wagenen or the Wilpons who haven’t come up with the money for Dallas Keuchel or Craig Kimbrel despite the team desperately needing the. Make Callaway the whipping boy here just like Van Wagenen and the Wilpons want. After all, what good is a human shied if he’s not there to block all the the criticism really due to other people?

 

9 Replies to “Apparently This Roster Is Callaway’s Fault”

  1. David Klein says:

    Apparently his horrendous in game managing is everyone else’s fault. You are the only Mets fan that likes the Ben Macadoo clone. He’s just a pitching coach and nothing more.

    1. metsdaddy says:

      Glad to see you support the job BVW has done and the Wilpons continue to do

      1. David Klein says:

        Lol the Wilpons are historically bad owners and Brodie is a snake oil salesman but Mickey is still deserving of a pink slip.

  2. David Klein says:

    Out of a jam? lol you at like the bases were loaded and Longoria can no longer hit

    1. metsdaddy says:

      “get himself into a jam”

      1. David Klein says:

        It wasn’t a jam

        1. metsdaddy says:

          I didn’t say it was

  3. What About A Movie says:

    Congrats to anyone who offer their every pitch viewership to Saul (Northwell) Katz and Jeffrey (I will be running the Mets until I am 70 or 2042) Scott Wilpon.

    Until I can watch the art of pitching as I did by watching Dave Eiland’s pre-closer bullpens before he was a Met or for example de Grom last two years….

    I will choose to mostly record and use fast forward when our starters, even into Lugo pitch.

    I will not watch an entire Carlos Gomez ABAT either.

    It is a also joy watching anything Pete Alonso does,

    The Wilmer Font purchase for $1 is all on the ownership who turned down going after Andrew Miller, Greg Holland etc…

    Last night I watched the game in thirty minutes, the other day with Matz probably forty five and with Wheeler I am tempted to watch almost as long as Jacob.

    Watching Noah pitch bugs the shit out of me.
    Forget the intermittent huge pitch counts going into the fifth, how does someone with such raw physical talent as Noah (I know his fastball has minimal movement) not just let go and not be so cute seemingly on every pitch…?

    If the ownership leaves crap money to sign relievers in 2016 for god’s sake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE THIS ABUSE BY THE OWNERSHIP YEAR AFTER YEAR AS THEY FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU BLAME EVERYONE ELSE.

    Yes or No… no gray on this one….

    What major league club would have held on to the essentially same pitching roster after 2015?

    Speaking to defense…. they could have signed a much younger DJ Math for $2 mil more per year and gotten an athletic gold Glover who could be pushed to play third….they declined…

    They could have drafted great athletes in the draft but only for example went after power and bat for a third baseman or DH only first round pick.

    I do not know about you but defense up the middle is my first step to winning a World Series.

    So… we are talking about a virus ownership in a chronically ill patient.. or what?
    Is the ownership the intractable problem here?

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