Montas provides scuffling Mets with reason for optimism

NEW YORK -- The good news for the Mets on Tuesday was that Frankie Montas looked, as team officials had hoped heading into his season debut against the Braves, very much like the Frankie Montas of old. He dialed his fastball up to 98 mph and held a solid offense scoreless for five innings.

The bad news was everything else.

While Montas presented himself as a viable long-term solution for the rotation, Mets relievers and position players continued playing poorly enough to signal the need for change. Exhibit A: As soon as Montas departed, the bullpen melted down. Huascar Brazobán walked the bases loaded. José Castillo retired none of the three batters he faced. Reed Garrett served up a go-ahead, two-run single to Matt Olson.

And that was all in the sixth inning alone.

The Mets went on to fall, 7-4, to the Braves, losing for the 10th time in 11 games on a night that should have been all about Montas -- a $34 million offseason signing who strained his right lat in Spring Training, missed four months, struggled mightily on his rehab assignment and then wildly outperformed most external expectations in his debut. The Mets were nothing but thrilled to see Montas produce a pitching line of five scoreless innings, three hits, three walks and five strikeouts against Atlanta.

And they were nothing but dismayed with how it all turned out: a no-decision for Montas, another loss for the Mets, continued stagnation in the NL East standings.

“I do feel the sense of urgency of like, ‘All right guys, we’ve got to do this, and we’re going to have to do this together, and we’re going to have to turn the page,’” said shortstop Francisco Lindor, who finished 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. “At the end of the day, it’s all about winning. Nothing else matters but winning, and we’re not doing that right now.”

Montas, at least, provided a beacon of hope for better days to come. Debuting amidst myriad questions about his rehab assignment performance, Montas struck out the first batter he faced, Ronald Acuña Jr., on a 96 mph sinker that clipped the inside edge of the strike zone. He worked around trouble in the first and third innings before retiring eight of the final 10 batters he faced.

“When I was in the Minor Leagues, I was just trying to get my pitches in, get my pitch count [up], work on my pitches and try to get ready for when I got an opportunity up here,” Montas said. “[Tonight], I was just trying to go out there and do my job, get people out.”

Montas could not control the fact that the Mets’ bullpen blew up behind him, nor that their offense went mostly quiet after a Brett Baty two-run single in a three-run fourth. All he could control was himself.

“That’s kind of like the guy that we saw in the playoffs,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, referring to last year’s NL Wild Card Series against the Brewers. “It’s easy 97, it’s a heavy sinker, he’s around the zone. … If we get a guy like that, he’s going to help us. And that’s why he’s here.”

Montas alone, however, won’t be enough to right the Mets. Even with him serving as a viable starter, the team still has rotation issues. New York’s de facto ace heading into Spring Training, Sean Manaea, just suffered a second setback in his rehab from a right oblique strain. While the loose body floating around Manaea’s left elbow won’t force him to miss much additional time, it raises questions as to how effective he’ll be once he returns.

For multiple reasons, the Mets badly need both Manaea and Montas to provide a boost. One is that their two other injured starters, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill, are both still weeks away from returns. The other is that every healthy Mets starter has regressed in June. While David Peterson and Clay Holmes can still credibly claim the benefit of the doubt given the lengths of their hot streaks, Griffin Canning and Paul Blackburn have been inconsistent for weeks. That’s an issue.

So, yes, it will take more than Montas to cure what ails the Mets. But at least he’s no longer on their most pressing list of problems.

It’s a list that’s long enough as is.