Two major reinforcements are getting closer to re-joining the Mets’ starting rotation, and not at a moment too soon, either.
Sean Manaea (oblique) had his third rehab start scheduled for Sunday with the club’s Single-A affiliate in Brooklyn, which is early enough in the process where manager Carlos Mendoza is still more focused on the veteran southpaw’s health than any results.
“He just has to go out there and be himself,” Mendoza said. “Where he’s at in his rehab process, it’s more how he’s feeling afterwards… At this point, it’s more increasing that pitch count and how he is going to feel the next few days.”
Right-hander Frankie Montas, who is working back from a lat strain, is markedly closer than Manaea. He has made five rehab starts and likely needs one more before the Mets make a decision on whether or not he will join the big-league club, but the results have been disappointing.
His ERA is 15.43 in his last three Triple-A starts, though the 32-year-old has not expressed any concern about the actual results.
The Mets’ rotational depth has been tested all season since the two went down in spring training, but it encountered an additional test on Thursday when ace Kodai Senga went down with a low-grade hamstring strain that will keep him out for at least a month.
It has forced Mendoza to re-insert Paul Blackburn into the rotation after he made a spot start in his season debut that was pushed back two months due to knee inflammation — he held the Los Angeles Dodgers to five scoreless innings on June 2 — and then was demoted to the bullpen. He is slated to start on Wednesday in Atlanta against the Braves.
This is another opportunity for Blackburn, who was acquired at last year’s trade deadline from the Athletics, to carve a place in the rotation before Manaea and Montas return — a competition that will ultimately boil down to the same trio that also includes Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning who fought for the final two rotation spots in spring training.
Megill once again provided ace-caliber stuff in the early portion of the season, as has been customary since his debut in 2021. The calendar flip to May, though, continues to provide problems. After posting a 1.74 ERA in his first six starts, he has a 5.79 ERA since May 4. That includes Saturday’s loss against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he allowed six runs (three earned) on seven hits in 3.2 innings of work.
“There were a lot of non-competitive pitches, especially the secondary [ones],” Mendoza said. “There were a few pitches, ball out of the hand, where he’s bouncing. Then, when he came back in the zone, they were all over him.”
Canning, in his first season with the Mets, has been equally inconsistent over his last five starts, with a 4.84 ERA and 12 walks compared to 19 strikeouts. He had a 2.36 ERA in his first eight starts of the year.
He was tagged for four runs on seven hits in Tuesday’s 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals, though three of them came in the first two innings before eventually stabilizing and pitching into the sixth inning.
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