Another bomb from flailing righty Carrasco
ATLANTA — Carlos Carrasco presents one more question the Mets will have to consider as they evaluate their 2022 starting rotation plans. Simply, what is the veteran right-hander at this point in his career?
His sluggish August could be forgiven as he built up stamina following a torn right hamstring that kept him sidelined for the first three months. But September didn’t go exactly as Carrasco would have hoped, either.
On Saturday, his season concluded with a whimper in the Mets’ 6-5 loss to the Braves at Truist Park. The right-hander allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings to finish his season with a 6.04 ERA.
He was asked how he would evaluate his season.
“I wouldn’t say good,” Carrasco said. “There were a lot of ups and downs in the road, but it was kind of a little bit weird for me, I didn’t have a regular spring training … just get ready for the next year and come in ready.”
Carrasco, who will turn 35 in March, is signed through next season for $12 million.
On this night, Carrasco was hurt by the long ball: Joc Pederson homered in the third for the Braves’ first run and William Contreras cleared the left-field fence in the fourth, a two-run blast that placed the Mets in a 4-0 hole.
Pete Alonso’s RBI double in the sixth got the Mets on the board. Michael Conforto singled for the team’s second hit of the game before Alonso hit a shot past third base to knock in the run.
Conforto launched a tworun homer in the eighth, after Francisco Lindor tripled for career hit No. 1,000.
Noah Syndergaard is scheduled to pitch one inning as the opener Sunday in the Mets’ season-finale. It will be his second appearance since his return from Tommy John surgery rehab last week. Syndergaard pitched a perfect inning against the Marlins on Tuesday.
The Mets’ best freeagent deal of last offseason might have been the oneyear contract worth $3.55 million they gave Jonathan Villar, who played his 141st game Saturday, going 0-for-4 with a walk.
“I think he’s done a little more than maybe we expected, just because we thought he was going to be that guy coming in playing three or four games in a week,” manager Luis Rojas said.
Robert Gsellman was activated from the injured list and allowed one run on two hits in the sixth inning. To clear roster space, Tylor Megill was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse and Brandon Drury designated for assignment.