Mets made questionable decisions with both rookie pitchers in their latest loss

It’s easy to suggest different ways the New York Mets could use Christian Scott. Knowing what’s right is the difficult part.

In Monday’s finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he left too early. In his previous start, he was left in a little too long. With available hindsight, it’s easy to see the critiques and point them out. It's the contradictory nature with the other rookie they used that is most worth a scratch of the head.

But it wasn’t just Scott who was mishandled in the loss. In a 2-2 game in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Carlos Mendoza went to the bullpen. Scott was scheduled to throw about 75 pitches as it was his first time on "regular rest" with 4 days between starts. Mendoza called upon Eric Orze to face Bryan Reynold. Then Oneil Cruz. Then Rowdy Tellez. A walk and two singles scored a run. Then he was lifted for Adrian Houser who apparently believed he was the starter in this game. The Pirates scored 4 more before the final out was recorded.

There’s feeding to the wolves and then there’s what the Mets did to Eric Orze

Orze is a guy the Mets are hoping can be a righty they can use against lefties. This year in Syracuse, he held lefties to a .182 batting average versus the .233 held by righties. There is a difference between the lefties in Triple-A and a major leaguer. Orze had to find this out the hard way.

On one hand, it’s nice to see Orze get tested quickly. On the other, why not allow him to ease into a game when you have Houser available? You’ve already committed to limiting Scott. Find middle ground and let him go after Reynolds to at least complete the inning.

It wasn’t the decision to lift Scott that was the contradiction to get upset about. It was the choice to ask a guy making his MLB after two days of sitting around waiting to find out when it would happen.

Mendoza has received plenty of criticism of late for his handling of the bullpen. In some cases, it’s on the pitchers who need to make the pitches. This rule applies to the veterans and not quite as much to a rookie tasked to face three batters hitting from the opposite side he throws.

We see the final score of 8-2 and one decision doesn’t seem to explain the loss. Yet that’s exactly what it came down to.

Yes, the Mets didn’t score again after the two-run home run from Brandon Nimmo in the top of the inning. It might’ve been irrelevant who pitched because the team didn’t hit Mitch Keller. We’ve seen that twice recently with the Mets. Their Fourth of July malaise up against Jake Irvin of the Washington Nationals remains fresh in a lot of our minds. And wouldn’t you know, he’s the one scheduled to start when they return home to Citi Field today.