Swarzak welcomed to Mets’ pen struggles
Anthony Swarzak was welcomed back to Citi Field earlier this week. Saturday night, he officially became a member of the Mets’ bullpen.
After missing more than two months with an oblique injury, the right-hander’s second appearance back resulted in him becoming just the latest Mets reliever to falter in the final innings, as Aaron Judge took a hanging Swarzak slider for a tie-breaking, game-deciding, eighth-inning, solo homer, to propel the Yankees to a 4-3 win.
In losing the eighth straight game of their homestand — as well as the 10th straight in Queens and sixth straight against the Yankees — Mets relievers are now responsible for a major league-worst 18 losses this season.
“I was honestly trying to spike that ball,” said Swarzak, who is 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA. “I knew he was probably gonna swing. The whole team likes to swing. I throw a high percentage of sliders, so when they see that slider they’re gonna swing at it. I just didn’t put it where I needed to put it to be effective.”
Entering Saturday, the Mets’ bullpen had gone 1-9 with a 7.22 ERA. The relievers combined ERA of 4.55 ranked 26th in the majors.
And again, the bullpen was shorthanded. Seth Lugo was needed to start Sunday night. Closer Jeurys Familia was placed on the disabled list the day prior, joining setup man AJ Ramos.
But Mickey Callaway had a matchup he liked.
As a key offseason acquisition to stabilize the Mets’ struggling bullpen, Swarzak had pitched one scoreless inning in his return during Tuesday’s appearance, and with Judge leading off the eighth — and the heart of the order following — Callaway was confident Swarzak’s diving sliders and high fastballs could produce a clean frame.
But Judge only needed to see one pitch to take advantage of the mismatch, hitting the high slider to left field for his 18th homer of the season.
“I love that plan. I’m all for that plan. I was up to the challenge,” Swarzak said. “I think if I get past that first pitch I might’ve been OK, but I didn’t. I tip my hat to him.”