NY Mets are making changes, but the message got garbled along the telephone lines

New York Mets fans must’ve finally found a magic lamp, because our wishes are almost starting to come true. Frankie Montas might not technically start his next game. The Mets just called up a starting pitcher from Triple-A. On the surface, it feels like the front office is listening. But in reality, it’s more like we summoned a genie with selective hearing and a taste for irony.

We wished for Montas to stop starting. The genie heard, “Open for him instead.” We asked for Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat, two of the most promising arms knocking on the big-league door. Instead, the Amazins gave us Dom Hamel, a name that doesn’t quite carry the same weight. It’s the classic case of making a wish and forgetting to specify the details. The genie’s selective hearing leaves us grateful but still wanting more.

The Mets are inching toward change, still clinging to Montas and calling up Hamel over the prospect's fans crave.

Montas isn’t fooling anyone. Since joining the Mets rotation on June 24, he has put up a 6.68 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP across 33.2 innings. He has been hit for 25 earned runs, 42 hits, and 10 walks in that stretch. His starts don’t unravel. They open in chaos and rarely recover. Now the Mets are floating the idea of using an opener in front of him. That’s not fixing the problem. That’s dressing it up and hoping no one notices.

Fans wished for Montas to be gone. The genie heard, “Just don’t let him start the first inning.” Rather than make a bold decision, the Mets reached for a workaround, something that feels like change without actually being it. Using an opener doesn’t remove Montas from the rotation. It just moves the disaster back a few batters.

And now comes Dom Hamel. He’s 26, a 2021 draft pick, and while this year’s numbers are better than last season’s disaster in Triple-A, they don’t exactly scream “arrival.” A 4.73 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP, and a .254 opponents’ batting average in a swingman role is serviceable, not spotlight-worthy.

The Mets didn’t bring up one of their top five pitching prospects, such as Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat, who represent the future. Instead, they called up Hamel, a Triple-A pitcher who wasn’t on the wish list. It’s a move that technically answers the call but leaves the biggest pieces of the puzzle still waiting in Syracuse.

So here we are, still rubbing the lamp and hoping the wish lands right next time. Mets fans asked for Montas out and McLean or Sproat up. Instead, what we got feels like a half-answered prayer - enough to check a box, but not enough to spark the moves we crave. Until then, the Mets keep dancing around change while Montas delivers clunkers, and the true future waits quietly in Syracuse.