Matz only has strain, is day-to-day
night’s game in the fourth, is now day-to-day with a slight strain to his left middle finger.
The team has lost games and lost confidence.
And the manager has lost sleep trying to figure out how to guide this team through a 10-17 month of May.
“I haven’t slept in a week, or not slept well at least,” Callaway said. “We’re just trying to get us out of this: what can we do, what can we stress, how can we react today? What conversations can we have with which players to help us continue to try and get out of what’s going on?”
Callaway said in his career in baseball he has never been through a stretch like this. But it’s not just injuries that are causing Callaway to lose sleep. “We have to communicate in the outfield, we have to put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. We have to give ourselves a chance to win when we are on the mound and not walk the leadoff batter,” Callaway said. “All those things. It’s not just giving up a run. When we’ve blown the leads, we’ve walked the leadoff batter of the inning. That has been consistent. We can’t do that, no matter who you are.”
This all may be new to Callaway, but for Mets fans this is a familiar refrain.
Some of it is just weird — like the small fire that broke out in the rotunda at Citi Field Wednesday afternoon.
And then some of it is self-inflicted with their lack of organizational pitching depth being exposed. The bullpen issues had magnified every decision Callaway made this past week.
But Wednesday, it all fell into place.
Vargas gave the Mets five scoreless innings. Tim Peterson, making his major league debut, held the Braves to a solo home run over two innings. Callaway brought closer Jeurys Familia in to pitch to the dangerous top of the Braves lineup in the eighth and Robert Gsellman closed it. efore the game, Callaway made it clear that this team’s spiral has been awful for him.
“We’re not happy with what’s going on. Just because we try to approach it the right way doesn’t mean we’re accepting it. We’re pissed,” Callaway said. “But we just don’t think that showing that negativity… is going to help us get out of it.”
At least Wednesday night, Callaway could sleep soundly with the hope that after hitting rock bottom, the Mets are starting the climb back.
BATLANTA — Steven Matz will not need to go on the disabled list. The Mets lefty bent his left middle finger backwards during his at-bat in Tuesday night’s game and had to leave in the middle of the fourth. X-rays at SunTrust Park were negative for a break and an examination in New York revealed he just has a sore joint in the finger.
“It’s a slight, slight strain of the middle finger and it’s not a DL case,” manager Mickey Callaway said before Wednesday’s series finale against the Braves. “So he’s just day-to-day.”
Callaway added he is optimistic Matz would make his next start on Sunday, but that is not definite.
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The good news first: Todd Frazier (strained left hamstring) is expected to play in a rehab game this weekend and Anthony Swarzak (strained left oblique) will make two more rehab starts and could be back in the bullpen, Callaway said.
Now the question marks: Assistant GM John Ricco said Wilmer Flores’ lower-back soreness stems from an issue with a disc in his back.
“It’s low back, he’s got some disc issue, I don’t think it was anything major, but again I think (GM Sandy (Alderson) maybe can update you on that tomorrow,” Ricco said.
Ricco also refrained from giving an update on righty AJ Ramos, who was put on the DL with tendinitis in his shoulder.
The Mets brought in three pitchers to fortify their bullpen Wednesday. They recalled Buddy Baumann, and brought up righties Tim Peterson and Scott Copeland, who was in Double-A. In order to make room on the 25-man roster, the Mets optioned Jacob Rhame and Phillip Evans to Las Vegas. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Mets designated LHP P.J. Conlon for assignment and moved Juan Lagares to the 60-day DL.
Baumann, 30, is 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA in two games this year with the Mets and Padres. Baumann was claimed off waivers from San Diego on April 27.
Peterson, 27, was 0-1 with seven saves and a 3.45 ERA in 23 games for Las Vegas this season. He had 40 strikeouts and opponents were hitting .179 against him.
Copeland, 30, was 4-0 with a 3.81 ERA in five combined starts between Binghamton and Las Vegas this year. He was signed to a minor league contract on April 18.
The Mets played with 24 men on their roster Tuesday night after they put Noah Syndergaard on the DL, not making roster moves until Wednesday. Ricco said they made the decision on Syndergaard after he saw the doctors and it was too late to get a player in from Las Vegas.
“There are rules about taxi squad. We can’t have a guy sitting around waiting to be activated, and there is some travel and logistics,” Ricco said. “You are down a starter, in effect, we really weren’t short. Turned out, based on the things that happened last night, ended up not being short, we had enough pitching, the guys we had didn’t get the job done.”