The juxtaposition on Thursday was impossible to miss.
As Mets pitching prospect Brandon Sproat was firing seven shutout innings for Triple-A Syracuse -- extending his scoreless streak to 18.0 innings over his last three starts -- the last-place Orioles were polishing off a doubleheader sweep of the Mets in Baltimore.
In addition to Sproat's recent excellence after a bumpy ride earlier this season, Nolan McLean has also been dominant for Syracuse.
McLean fired six shutout innings on Wednesday while striking out 10. The last time he allowed more than two runs in a game was May 15. His season ERA between Double-A Binghamton and Syracuse is 2.17.
But with Sproat and McLean in the minors, the Orioles' task in Game 2 on Thursday was to excel against a cavalry of low-leverage Mets relievers who will all likely be back in the minors or DFA'd in the coming days and weeks.
And excel they did.
Baltimore plated seven runs over the first six innings against Brandon Waddell, Justin Hagenman, and Richard Lovelady, and that was all she wrote.
If Game 2 on Thursday was a one-off, it would've elicited a giant shrug. But it was the third time in their last six games that the Mets employed the bullpen game strategy. In addition to making it harder to win, it's taxing to the relief corps and can create a negative domino effect.
It's also difficult for the offense to have to constantly play from behind.
It didn't cost the Mets last Friday against the Yankees, but it cost them a chance at a series sweep last Sunday, when Zach Pop (who has since been DFA'd) and Waddell put the Mets in an early 5-0 hole they couldn't crawl out of.
That's two losses in the last week that were essentially punts by New York.
In addition to the three bullpen games in the last week, the Mets have also recently chosen to rely on Blade Tidwell for starts/bulk innings (mainly because he's on the 40-man roster), and kept Paul Blackburn in the rotation before his injury despite poor results (a 7.71 ERA, 1.98 WHIP, and failure to provide length).
New York lost Blackburn's last four starts -- on June 13, 18, 23, and 28.
Now, it's important to note that it took a barrage of injuries to put the Mets in this spot. That included recent ones to Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill, an injury to Kodai Senga a month ago, and the season-long absence of Sean Manaea.
They were also put behind the eight ball when a rainout last week forced Clay Holmes out of the Yankees series.
But in each recent instance, the Mets could've turned to McLean or Sproat. Why didn't they?
"My preference is to not bring up a top prospect for a spot start," president of baseball operationsDavid Stearnssaid on July 3 before the Yankees series. "I also understand this is a unique circumstance and I can’t take anything off the table right now, but my preference would be to figure out a way to do it without doing that."
Stearns added:
"The clear downside to giving someone the ball and having them not have a good outing, a short start, whatever it is, is you put your major league team in a hole. So step one is we’d like to avoid that outcome. For the individual player’s development, you never know.
"I’m certain there are pitching prospects and prospects in general who will handle that just fine, and there are others who it probably impacts a little bit more, and trying to figure out which is which can be difficult. It’s also perfectly possible that you call someone up, they give you five good innings, and then go back down and continue their development. I’m certainly aware of all of these outcomes, and we’re sorting through it."
Stearns' position is at least understandable, and there are also other factors at play.
Perhaps the Mets are making sure their top pitching prospects -- all of whom could be involved in trade discussions in the coming weeks -- don't come up and get hit around, which could negatively impact their value.
It should also be noted that McLean and Sproat aren't yet on the 40-man roster. And their service time clocks haven't started yet.
But when it comes to the 40-man roster, the Mets have about a half-dozen fungible spots. So creating one or two really shouldn't be a concern.
And regarding the service time situation, that would be a more valid excuse if this wasn't a year with World Series expectations.
But this is a year where the Mets have World Series expectations, and the tactics they've deployed with their pitching staff over the last month or so have cost them games -- making their task more difficult.
With Senga and Manaea back this weekend, the juggling the Mets have been doing with the rotation should be over for now.
But there will be situations in the second half of the season when they need a sixth starter to give people extra rest, or when they need a starter because of a doubleheader, or when something else unexpected pops up. A long-term injury could create a long-term need.
When those situations arise, they need to employ a different strategy than the one that cost them a bunch of games in the first half.
