The Mets' Bullpen Construction is Becoming a Major Issue (Here's How to Fix It)

The Mets have carried seven starting pitchers throughout the regular season. That strategy has led to sub-optimal bullpen construction that is costing them games.

Craig Kimbrel's performance is one of the reasons why the Mets' bullpen is an issue. | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

A stretch of 16 games in as many days will expose any flaws in a roster, and the Mets have seen theirs pop up in the worst possible way. As a result of the choice to carry Sean Manaea in their bullpen but insist on keeping him stretched out as a potential starter, the Mets have essentially been operating with just six true relievers on a 13-man pitching staff.

The injury to Clay Holmes has exacerbated the issue, forcing the Mets to rely on three straight rookies to start games against the Nationals: Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, and Zach Thornton. All three struggled to varying degrees, but McLean was at least able to give the Mets 5 2/3 innings of work on Tuesday night.

The combination of a short outing from Scott in Monday's 12-inning game, heavy bullpen usage over the weekend and no off days has left manager Carlos Mendoza in a bind when it comes to finding answers to navigate innings. Tuesday saw recent call-up Daniel Duarte work the final 2 1/3 innings behind McLean, while Mendoza asked veteran Craig Kimbrel to record the final eight outs of Wednesday's game.

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Kimbrel, who is 37, got through five outs relatively quickly, and the fact that the Mets closed the game to within 6-4 should have led Mendoza to replace him with a fresh reliever like Huascar Brazobàn. Given the uncertainty over whether the Mets would go with an opener in front of David Peterson on Thursday, Mendoza tried to squeeze another inning out of Kimbrel and saw it backfire to the tune of two backbreaking insurance runs for Washington.

How the Mets can fix their bullpen construction

Thornton, who was sporadic in his major league debut, is likely to be sent down to the minors soon to give the Mets a fresh bullpen arm. It wouldn't be shocking to see Kimbrel, who has an ERA of 6.00 this season, get designated for assignment to add two new arms to the unit.

The problem remains that the Mets refuse to take definitive action with Manaea, who last pitched on Sunday and threw 57 pitches in long relief. The Mets have indicated they expect Manaea to make starts this season, but that hasn't happened yet, creating an awkward situation where he is occupying a bullpen slot that could be better used for a middle reliever.

The Mets still need to figure out what to do with Sean Manaea. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The back of the Mets' bullpen is actually in decent shape with a solid trio of Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Brooks Raley. A.J. Minter should be back in the fold within the next week or so, strengthening that group, and the Mets also have a few solid middle relief options that can go multiple innings.

Brazobán has been one of the unit's better relievers but has often been tasked with opening for Peterson, limiting his availability on days surrounding those starts. Austin Warren has been a good find for the bullpen and threw an inning last night, but he can't work every day.

Using Myers as a multi-inning weapon is intriguing, but that only works if he is the one true long man in the bullpen. Having Manaea nebulously occupying the same space but only being used in clear mop-up or desperation situations means Mendoza is effectively pitching a man short in the bullpen compared to the rest of the league.

The obvious fix, for now, is to either give Manaea a few spins through the rotation in Holmes' slot or make him a traditional reliever. The 57 pitches Manaea threw on Sunday should give him a solid baseline to throw 75 or so in an outing against Miami this weekend, which could also help give extra rest to youngsters like Scott and McLean.

If the Mets don't trust Manaea in the rotation, they need to commit to him working more frequently in middle relief and abandon the idea of using him as a starter this season. With a couple of intriguing prospects in Triple-A and Kodai Senga on his way back from injury, the Mets do have enough depth where they can afford to permanently shorten Manaea if they want to keep him on the roster.

Failing to do so leads to situations like Wednesday night, when Mendoza felt his best option for navigating his bullpen was to ask the 37-year-old Kimbrel to get eight outs with the Mets trailing. It is not fair to Kimbrel to ask him to do that at this stage of his career, or for the Mets to build such an awkward bullpen that Mendoza felt like he had no choice but to do it.