NEW YORK -- By revamping the bullpen before the MLB Trade Deadline, the Mets showed how good their relievers can be in a 12-6 victory over the Giants at Citi Field on Saturday.
It was an outing that New York right-hander Kodai Senga would like to forget. He lasted four innings, allowed four runs on five hits and walked three batters. Senga still had enough gas in the tank to pitch another inning. After all, he threw 71 pitches. But once the team acquired Gregory Soto, Ryan Helsley and Tyler Rogers, manager Carlos Mendoza was able to get aggressive with his relievers.
“With the way Senga was throwing the ball today, regardless, I was going to be aggressive as long as I had guys available,” Mendoza said. “But then when you have a bullpen like that and they are available for the game, you got to go for it.”
Mendoza ended up using five relievers -- Reed Garrett, Soto, Rogers, Brooks Raley and Rico Garcia -- who pitched a combined five innings and allowed two runs. Garcia, who was designated for assignment after the game, according to MLB Network insider Joel Sherman, allowed the final two runs in the ninth inning on a two-run homer by Willy Adames.
“With the Deadline acquisitions, we have a ton of depth in the bullpen area,” Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. “In games like today where our lineup is scoring runs, as a starter, I need to go out there and throw as many innings for the team [as I can].”
Rogers feels part of the Mets after pitching one scoreless inning against the Giants, his former team. Rogers is having the best season of his seven-year career. Before the trade, he appeared in 53 games and had a 1.80 ERA in 50 innings for San Francisco.
“On paper, it’s quite the bullpen. It’s definitely the strength of this team,” Rogers said. “It was great to get out there. I felt the crowd welcomed me. That was pretty cool.”
Teammate Pete Alonso believes the sky is the limit on what the bullpen is capable of.
“Everyone has nasty stuff down there. It’s tough at-bats from everybody,” he said. “I'd hate to be the [opposing hitter] in the batter’s box. We have some great additions and it’s exciting. They have great stuff.”