Mickey Callaway responded Friday to the critics who said the Mets mishandled their 25-man roster during their recent road trip.
The Mets played a man short for the final four games of the trip. They opted not to put Steven Matz, who has radial nerve irritation in his left (pitching) elbow, on the injured list, hoping he could return before the 10 days he would have spent on the IL would have been up, rather than helping their bench by calling up Dominic Smith or a reliever.
But Callaway didn’t agree with the notion the Mets were hamstringing themselves, even though on Thursday, they put Matz on the IL after all, and brought back Smith, who has performed well this season in his role as a reserve.
“If we’re worried about winning a game because of one guy off our bench, we’ve got big problems,” Callaway said before the Mets’ 11-2 blowout win over the lowly Marlins. “That’s not why we’re not winning games.”
It didn’t help not to have Smith in Wednesday’s loss to the Padres, when a lefty pinch-hitter would’ve been useful in multiple late-game situations with runners in scoring position. But the Mets were hoping to avoid having to use a spot starter in Matz’s place after the lefty received a cortisone injection.
“We were very diligent in doing everything we could in giving him that chance,” Callaway said. “We thought that chance was worth it.”
Matz long-tossed on Friday and is expected to throw a bullpen session on Saturday before the Mets decide when he can return to the rotation.
The southpaw said the discomfort he had been feeling in his forearm has gone away after he was forced to manage it this season up to this point. Matz had been pitching well, going 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA, before this injury.
“It’s frustrating because you want to keep just going out there and staying in a groove, so yeah, it is frustrating,” Matz said. “But hopefully this doesn’t derail me too long and I can get right back where I was at.”
The Mets had hoped to activate infielder Jed Lowrie (left knee capsule strain), but the offseason acquisition didn’t feel he was ready, and remained with Triple-A Syracuse, where he went 3-for-4 with a homer Friday night.
Out since early in spring training, Lowrie had gone 2-for-23 with Single-A Port St. Lucie and Syracuse. The Mets will reassess their plans for him on Saturday, according to Callaway.
Right-hander Wilmer Font is scheduled to start on Tuesday, with the hope he can go longer into the game after throwing 60 pitches in his Mets debut on Wednesday.
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Former Mets pitchers Dwight Gooden and Roger McDowell were guests of the team for Friday’s game.
