It’s easy to pick at a manager’s decision to pull a great pitcher while he’s still cruising, especially when the bullpen ultimately blows it.
But the decision that generated so much discussion after the Mets’ Opening Day loss to the Phillies was not exactly as impactful as Blake Snell leaving a World Series game. In fact, as nice as it must have been for the opposing batters to be rid of Jacob deGrom for the night, this move did not impact the game at all.
The reason is simple: Had deGrom pitched seven innings, Trevor May -- and not Miguel Castro -- would have almost certainly relieved him in the eighth. And it was May who, along with Aaron Loup, blew the game.
After deGrom threw 77 pitches in six scoreless innings, manager Luis Rojas made the pitching change. DeGrom, who did not feel quite right after a long layoff caused by the cancellation of last weekend’s series, did not fight the move.
“Long season, and talking to them coming in, [I] felt like that was the right decision," deGrom said.
Castro proceeded to pitch a scoreless seventh -- and that should have ended all debate about Rojas’ strategy. DeGrom/Castro to May was as effective as deGrom to May could possibly have been. End of story.
What followed was a brutal loss for the Mets, who watched their free agent relievers of choice stumble. But this was a loss that turned on the performance of those players, not on the decision of a manager.