Mickey Callaway had drawn it up to be a good chance for a bounce back. Instead, Seth Lugo’s early struggles continued.
The Mets reliever came on in the ninth inning of Thursday’s home opener against the Nationals facing a two-run deficit and got tagged for two more runs on two hits while recording only an out before getting pulled.
After striking out the side in his season debut, Lugo has been ineffective in three games since, allowing multiple runs in each outing. He has been charged with nine runs, five earned, on eight hits and three walks over 3 ²/₃ innings heading into Saturday’s matinee against the Nationals.
“I think he’s going to be fine,” Callaway said after Thursday’s 4-0 loss. “[Bench coach Jim Riggleman] and I talked about it, we talked about this situation, going into the game. If we’re down, let’s hold them close, we have the day off [Friday]. Maybe this is a good time to get Lugo going. Non-leverage situation, you’re down, go out there with no pressure. And he just didn’t have it, so we got him out of there.”
Lugo had developed into a weapon out of the bullpen last year for Callaway to use in any situation — often for multiple innings and in high-leverage situations. The former starter took to the role, recording a 2.66 ERA over 101 ¹/₃ innings, and was expected to be leaned on again this season to bolster the relief corps.
After years of preparing advanced reports for Wilson Ramos as a pitching coach, Callaway said he is not surprised by the way the veteran catcher has hit for average — off to an 11-for-23 start. But that doesn’t make the manager any less impressed.
“You look at a guy like that and you would normally think he’s going to maybe try to leverage the ball and just pull it out of the ballpark,” Callaway said of the career .275 hitter. “But he’s a great overall hitter. He’d be a guy you could hit and run with if you really wanted to. … He’s short and quick to the ball.”
Todd Frazier (oblique) and Travis d’Arnaud (elbow) began rehab assignments with Single-A St. Lucie on Thursday night. Both played nine innings, as Frazier went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and d’Arnaud went 1-for-3 with a walk.
