MLB Insider suggests unique strategy to solve Mets' rotation issues

While the bullpen depth the Mets built at the trade deadline is helpful for shortening games, asking the team's top relievers to cover more than four innings every night is not a viable strategy in the long run. Outside of David Peterson and rookie Nolan McLean, the Mets haven't gotten much length from their starters, leading SNY's John Harper to pitch a unique fix to the team's rotation issues.

As of right now, the Mets are carrying two pitchers in their bullpen who likely won't be on their postseason roster in Jose Castillo and Huascar Brazoban. Jonah Tong's arrival on Friday could provide a boost to the rotation, but it is unknown how many innings he can realistically contribute between now and the end of the regular season.

The Mets do have more length available in the minor leagues, as Brandon Sproat is a fully stretched out starter while Tylor Megill is working back from another injury and is scheduled to throw around 80 pitches for Triple-A Syracuse tomorrow. Using piggyback outings from the starters could make a lot of sense to solve the Mets' length issues.

How The Mets Could Utilize Their Excess Starting Pitching To Navigate The Stretch Run

David Stearns hinted that piggybacking could be an option during an interview on "The Show" podcast with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman, noting he wanted to prioritize the organization's 14 best pitchers at this point of the season.

That conversation also saw Stearns reference his time in Milwaukee, when they used top starting pitching prospects out of the bullpen early in their careers. Combining those sentiments with Harper's could provide a blueprint for the Mets to consider carrying eight starting pitchers (Peterson, Manaea, Senga, McLean, Tong, Megill, Sproat and Clay Holmes) and six traditional relievers (Diaz, Ryan Helsley, Gregory Soto, Brooks Raley, Tyler Rogers and Ryne Stanek) in September.

The piggyback method would involve preparing two starting pitchers to work on a given day with the idea they would cover the majority of the innings in a game. It would work well with someone like Manaea, who has consistently become less effective after he reaches 70 pitches in a game, allowing him to turn the game over to another pitcher who can theoretically cover the rest of the contest.

In addition to covering the innings that Manaea and Senga are not going, it would also allow the Mets to monitor the innings of someone like Tong, who has already surpassed his innings total from 2024 with a month left in the regular season. If the Mets stick with a traditional five-man rotation after their run of 16 games in a row ends, they could create three piggyback days out of five with pairings such as Manaea/Megill, Senga/Tong and Holmes/Sproat.

The regular relievers would still factor in to bridge gaps, such as situations where the Mets need to escape a jam in the middle of innings or using Diaz to finish off games in the ninth. The piggyback method would also allow the Mets to deploy their higher leverage relievers more aggressively in the other days of the week since they would have more regular rest than they are getting right now.

The return of Reed Garrett from the IL could change the math slightly, but there is no question the Mets' combination of their 14 best pitchers likely doesn't include either Castillo or Brazoban in it. The amount of potential starting options the Mets have is a strength and they should lean into it down the stretch.