PHOENIX — The Mets bullpen is one again in a state of disarray.
Less than a week after activating right-hander Dedniel Nuñez from the 15-day injured list, the Mets have placed him on it once again. This time the righty is dealing with right forearm tightness and the move is retroactive to Aug. 26. Nuñez pitched Saturday in San Diego, throwing 1 2/3 innings, but he had trouble recovering from that outing.
With the Mets up, 5-4, on the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night and Luis Severino only able to give the Mets 4 2/3 innings, the Mets had an optimal spot for a pitcher like Nuñez that typically throws multiple innings in high-leverage situations.
But the Mets were unable to use Nuñez despite assurances before the game by manager Carlos Mendoza that the rookie was fine. Huascar Brazobán was used before the Mets took the lead in the sixth inning. Danny Young, Reed Garrett and Phil Maton recorded holds before Edwin Diaz blew a four-out save by giving up an eighth-inning grand slam to Corbin Carroll.
“He played catch and is not recovering well,” Mendoza said following the 8-5 loss at Chase Field. “He was reassessed before the game, and continued to feel some tightness in the forearm here. So we are day-to-day.”
The Mets declined to make Nuñez available to the media despite requests Wednesday night. Thursday morning, Nuñez was pulled away by a team translator after being asked about his elbow, saying the reliever was going out to play catch.
No corresponding move was made, but right-hander Tylor Megill is expected to take his place on the roster when he’s called up from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday to start against the Chicago White Sox.
This leaves the Mets down a man in the bullpen Thursday in the rubber match against the Diamondbacks. Garrett, Maton and Young have pitched in each of the last two games in Phoenix, but the Mets might have to break their own rule and use a few of them on a third consecutive day.
“There’s a chance that a couple of them could go three in a row today,” Mendoza said. “Especially Danny Young. You know, not many pitches, I think 13 pitches in the last two days.”
Young, the only left-hander in the bullpen, is riding a streak of four straight scoreless outings. He hasn’t allowed an inherited runner to score since June 25.
“You feel good because of how much movement he’s got on his pitches,” Mendoza said. “He’s the only lefty, but it doesn’t matter whether it’s in the middle of the game [or] towards the end of the game — he’s ready to go, and you feel good when he’s facing those lefties.”
There is little clarity on the Mets’ bullpen situation. Right-hander Sean Reid-Foley still isn’t throwing despite imaging on his shoulder coming back clean. Diaz is struggling to throw strikes with his fastball and he’s leaving his slider up in the zone because of mechanical issues and the entire bullpen is still walking too many hitters.
It’s the wrong time of year for relief issues to snowball, but the Mets have to find a way to get through it with a Wild Card spot still within reach.
“We’ve been here before, we’ve had some tough losses and shown an ability to bounce back,” Mendoza said. “You’ve got to give them credit for staying in the moment and forgetting about what happened the day before. They’re not worried about what’s in the future, just making sure we do what we need to do to take care of business today.”