The Mets' pitching plan on Wednesday night was a head scratcher

After burning through most of their bullpen to win on Tuesday night, the Mets' plan to get through Wednesday's game made little sense.

Sep 24, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Mets pitcher Jonah Tong (21) reacts during the third inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The New York Mets wake up on Thursday morning in control of their playoff fate once again, but nothing they did on Wednesday night played a part in that. The Chicago Cubs blew out the Mets 10-3 to even their series at a game a piece, although losses from Cincinnati and Arizona cut the Mets' magic number to clinch a postseason berth down to four.

The Dodgers prevail in 11 innings against the Diamondbacks.

The standings between the Mets, Reds and Diamondbacks for the final NL Wild Card remains the same and the Mets' magic number is now 4. pic.twitter.com/hKruqEOSgD

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) September 25, 2025

The Mets were in a tough spot pitching wise on Wednesday since David Peterson's short start on Tuesday meant that Carlos Mendoza needed to cover 7.2 innings with his bullpen. The unit stepped up, allowing just two runs to buy time for a comeback, but it required six pitchers to finish the job, with Huascar Brazoban throwing 2.2 innings, Edwin Diaz throwing two and Tyler Rogers needing 31 pitches to get three outs.

Read More: How David Peterson's struggles could impact Mets' pitching plans Sunday

A day like Wednesday often leads to at least one roster move as the Mets have been notably proactive in ensuring their bullpen had at least one fresh arm available throughout the season. David Stearns declined to add a potential long man from Triple-A Syracuse yesterday, however, instead opting to activate Tyrone Taylor from the injured list and designate Jose Siri for assignment as the Mets' only transaction prior to the game.

We have made the following roster moves.@clovercommerce | #LGM pic.twitter.com/XqY4sGfdgo

— New York Mets (@Mets) September 24, 2025

Things got dicey when Jonah Tong struggled to elevate his fastball, allowing the Cubs to tee off early and often. Taylor bailed Tong out by throwing a runner out at the plate in the first inning but Tong was in deep trouble in the third, allowing the first three batters to reach before Ian Happ doubled down the right field line to make it 2-0 Chicago.

Ian HAPP!

Two-run double 🚀pic.twitter.com/VGlJLyRT8K

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 25, 2025

Considering the Mets' situation and needing every win possible to make the playoffs, it would've made sense for Mendoza to be aggressive there and pull Tong to try and maintain the deficit at two. That was not the case as Mendoza, who admitted during an in-game interview with ESPN's Buster Olney that the Mets were short in the bullpen, tried to nurse Tong through the frame but had to pull him for Richard Lovelady after he gave up two more RBI hits.

Carlos Mendoza was asked about Jonah Tong needing to make adjustments in crucial September games:

"That's part of it. It's hard to put it on them or blame them. This is where we are and we'll continue to go through it and teach those guys" pic.twitter.com/LkFMgenKNt

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 25, 2025

The Mets' Pitching Strategy In A Must-Win Game Left Plenty To Be Desired

The lack of transactions prior to the game made it clear that the Mets' plan for the night involved seeing Tong, a rookie making his fifth big league start in the middle of a pennant race, go at least five innings to save their bullpen. While Tong is one of the most talented pitchers in the Mets' organization, he has shown that he is not quite ready to deliver consistent big league results, which is completely understandable since he made just two Triple-A starts before being promoted to The Show.

The thing that made the situation confusing was seeing Mendoza go to Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea in the middle innings to get outs. Holmes and Manaea each gave the Mets an inning of work on what would be their normal throw day between starts, but the fact they were available at all and the Mets still pushed Tong to the point he put them in a deep hole made no sense.

Carlos Mendoza said Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea both volunteered yesterday to pitch out of the bullpen for tonight's game pic.twitter.com/MVaxfPFyoO

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 25, 2025

Knowing that Manaea and Holmes were available yesterday makes Mendoza's decision to push Tong deeper in a game the Mets needed to get even worse. The optimal move would have been to pull Tong after the Happ double and see if an experienced reliever such as Brooks Raley could put out the fire in the third, keeping the deficit at a more manageable total instead of asking the offense to chase five runs for a second straight night.

Part of the blame here also lies with Stearns, who declined to add a pitcher with the potential to go multiple innings to the roster after Tuesday's extreme bullpen usage. If this was the middle of June, the Mets would have likely sent Brazoban down to add someone like Brandon Waddell or Austin Warren to the roster to give them a back stop against a short start from Tong, but there are risks to that decision.

Any pitcher sent to the minors must remain down for 15 days unless they are an injury replacement, so sending down Brazoban now would have likely eliminated the possibility of using him in either a Wild Card Series or the Division Series. Given how many injuries the Mets have suffered in the bullpen, it is easy to see why Stearns wanted to protect the possibility of being able to use Brazoban in key games in October.

The problem is that the Mets need to get to October first and essentially were forced to punt a game in the last week of the season because Mendoza didn't have enough available bullpen arms to navigate a rough outing from a rookie starter. That is not an ideal place to be and the Mets are very lucky their gamble didn't burn them by losing control of the Wild Card thanks to wins from either Arizona and/or Cincinnati.

The Mets should be in a better pitching situation for today as the only regular reliever the team used was Ryan Helsley, who tossed two scoreless innings to extend his run of clean outings to five. It is likely the team will DFA Lovelady, who tossed two innings last night, to add a potential long man to the bullpen today and Nolan McLean's track record of getting deep into games should be a godsend for a beleaguered bullpen.

Not adding another reliever last night did cost the Mets dearly, however, as they appeared to prioritize keeping Brazoban available for a potential postseason roster instead of giving themselves the best chance to win on Wednesday. The results worked out as well as they could for the Mets but this kind of flawed thinking that prioritizes tomorrow over today is a big reason why they find themselves fighting just to make the postseason with a $340 million payroll.