Mets Scapegoats: 1 player, 1 playoff plan, 1 front office decision to blame most

Stretch out your fingers. Whenever your team is eliminated, some pointing of said finger is necessary. We do it with the 2024 New York Mets with a lot more humor, whimsy, and joy. Fans aren’t going to look back at this team with fury.

Nevertheless, we might feel the need to scapegoat some of what unfolded in the NLCS. One player, one plan, and one decision in retrospect should have us feeling at least a little bit angry.

Mets player scapegoat: Kodai Senga

Nobody had a rougher NLCS than Kodai Senga. His performance in Game 1 had us all afraid of what he’d do next. As it turns out, he had one more appearance left in him in Game 6. Sadly, he faltered yet again, this time in relief.

The Mets were still within reach of catching the Los Angeles Dodgers when Senga entered from the bullpen. For a guy who seems more into his routine than Rain Man, we had to cross our fingers for a crisis to be averted. It wasn’t meant to be. Another 3 earned runs scored against him. A pair of walks and a hit batter helped create the chaos.

It’s easy to criticize Senga for how poorly he pitched in the playoffs. A home run off the bat of Kyle Schwarber to lead off Game 1 versus the Philadelphia Phillies seemed like an omen. Fortunately, the Mets magic took over and they were able to overcome their NL East foes. Not so much with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Senga finished the postseason with a 12.60 ERA. He walked 7 batters in 5 innings of work while striking out 4. He’s kind of at the center of a lot of blame. That’s because the worst plan of the NLCS involved him, too.

Poor Mets plan scapegoat: The starting rotation plan

The Mets didn’t have much of a choice on how to line their rotation up against the Milwaukee Brewers. The same went for the NLDS against the Phillies. When they got past those two rounds, they finally could regroup and plan carefully for the NLCS.

They ended up not going with Sean Manaea in Game 1, rather asking Senga to take the ball in the opener despite barely pitching all year. It was a questionable call especially when Senga would be limited to how many pitches he could actually throw. Manaea could have gone on regular rest and been available in Game 5 as well as maybe a relief appearance in Game 7. It was a bad call and put a sour taste in the series from the start.

This didn’t actually end up being the costliest mistake of all by the Mets. Consider they didn’t score a run at all in Game 1 and managed to win Game 5 with David Peterson on the hill. Manaea had his chance to keep the season going in Game 6 only to put together his worst start of the playoffs.

That’s why this poor plan is more of a scapegoat than an actual true criticism. We can still hate on it, but there are other reasons why the Mets are done. They didn’t hit. They didn’t pitch. No amount of good planning could have helped them overcome this.