Rain in the northeast was both beneficial for the Mets and their beleaguered pitching staff, and detrimental. With Tuesday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers postponed, forcing a midweek doubleheader, the relief corps received an extra day off, giving the Mets a full bullpen and an extra arm to play two games Wednesday.
However, the rotation is now in flux, especially when it comes to the weekend series against the Yankees. With Clay Holmes pushed back to Wednesday, the Mets would have liked to use left-hander Sean Manaea on Sunday in the Subway Series. Manaea was set to make a rehab start Tuesday night with Double-A Binghamton, but the Rumble Ponies were also rained out in Hartford, pushing his rehab start back to Wednesday as well.
“You get an extra day of rest for the bullpen guys, but then it affects our upcoming games too as far as the rotation goes,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “You gain something, and you lose something too, so that’s part of it. We’re dealing, we’ll deal with it, and we’ll get through it.”
The Mets are off Monday before traveling to Baltimore to begin a six-game road trip against the Orioles and the Kansas City Royals.
Manaea has had a few setbacks in his rehab from a right oblique strain, an injury he suffered during spring training, so the club isn’t ready to commit to a firm date for his first Major League start of the season.
“We’ve just got to wait until he pitches today and see how he feels after that one,” Mendoza said. “And then we have some decisions to make.”
Right-hander Austin Warren was called up as the 27th man, and will likely be used as an opener in the second game against Milwaukee in front of Blade Tidwell, who will pitch the bulk of the game.