Mets interim manager Andy Green hit on a number of topics before Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox.

Zach Thornton to pitch Sunday, but starting still up in air

There was a locker in the Mets’ clubhouse for the left-hander, but Thornton might not be the starter for the team’s final game before the All-Star break.

“He is definitely going to figure into the mix,” Green said when asked directly if the 24-year-old would be the starter.

“There’s no determination on what that role exactly is at this present moment,” he continued. “He will figure into our mix at some point tomorrow.”

Thornton made two starts for the club earlier this year, one in May and one in June, both of which saw him sent back down to the minors straight after. He allowed four runs on four hits and two walks in 4.1 innings of his big league debut in Washington before dealing a stellar outing in Queens: one run on five hits and one walk over six innings with seven strikeouts against the Phillies.

Asked about his development and readiness to contribute at this level, the interim skipper said that the “things that you love about the guys that have shown [success] up here, he has [that] within him.”

“He’s unafraid, he’s gonna give you what he’s got, he’s gonna step on the mound, and he’s gonna be aggressive,” Green said of Thornton. “Most days he’s gonna fill up the strike zone and he’s gonna attack.

“He had a really good response against Philly, gave up three pretty hard missiles to start that game and then shut them down through the remainder of that game. That’s who I believe him to be. That’s who he is.”

Green added that the Mets have “high hopes for what he can become and not gonna put a limit on where that ultimately will be in the rotation.”

“We think he’s the type of guy that will find a way to exceed every expectation of him,” he continued. “We’re excited to get him into the mix tomorrow; it was a tough time we had to option him from kind of a roster constraint perspective last time.”

Kodai Senga a one-inning guy out of ‘pen?

In his new role working in relief, Senga delivered a nine-pitch clean inning on Friday night. Could that be a new spot for the former starter rather than pitching bulk innings from the bullpen?

“It’s obviously something that he’s unaccustomed to, so we have to see how he responds to those types of opportunities,” Green said.

Of course, the prospects of Senga’s stuff coming in for a lone inning late in games is attractive.

“You tell me somebody throws a four-seam fastball 97-99 [mph], has a wipeout forkball, like, yes, that can be a back-end piece,” the interim manager said. “Now can you handle the difference in the programming that comes with short bursts out of the ‘pen? We’ll learn that in time.

“I think Kodai has the chance to be an elite starter and an elite back-end piece. His role over the last several weeks has been necessitated by our needs; we’ve had to put him in a place where we’ve needed him, which has largely been lengthy.”

Friday’s appearance was the first chance the Mets got to give him a look in a “one-inning burst,” Green said.

In four appearances as a reliever, Senga has a 5.40 ERA over 11.2 innings, surrendering seven runs on 11 hits (three homers, two doubles)with five walks to 13 strikeouts.

Mets let Juan Soto make Derby call

Green said the organization didn’t play any part in Soto’s decision not to partake in the Home Run Derby this upcoming week.

“That’s his call,” Green said. “He’d be fun to watch, but respect whatever decision he chose to make there.

“That was totally his call.”

Popular in the Community