Mets manager Luis Rojas was back on Carton and Roberts on Wednesday, and was once again fielding questions about the managerial decisions that ultimately led to a deflating loss.
Those decisions, which seemed to prioritize caution over urgency, began with removing Marcus Stroman after six innings and 89 pitches. Stroman defended the decision in his postgame press conference, saying he could have allowed three home runs the following inning and the decision to remove him in his league-leading 31st start could also be a product of the coaching staff looking out for his health.
“Marcus is always gonna say how he feels, and he’s gonna be authentic with that,” Rojas said. “We make decisions based on when a guy comes out of an inning, we try to check how he is. Obviously I’d like a guy like Marcus to keep going, even throw over 100 pitches, but that just wasn’t realistic.”
Aaron Loup relieved Stroman and pitched a scoreless seventh, continuing his dominant season, but was pulled for Jeurys Familia in the eighth, and Familia promptly allowed a pair of runs to score, relinquishing a late lead in a game the Mets desperately needed.
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“The tough part of their lineup is one of the best top part of the lineup against lefties,” Rojas said of his decision to take out Loup. “Even though Loup is having an unbelievable year, I think we used Loup in the right spot. We haven’t really exposed him. We did one time in Atlanta, and Riley and those guys…scored a few runs. It was just the matchup at the time in that spot…they’re one of the best, if not the best, in the league against left-handed pitchers.”
With the game tied in the 11th, Rojas called on Jake Reed, a rookie who had just been activated off the IL, instead of alternative options like Trevor Williams. Rojas said both Seth Lugo and Miguel Castro were unavailable, leaving him to decide to go with Reed, who allowed three runs in what ultimately decided the game, and perhaps New York’s season.
“Jake’s thrown the ball well for us, specifically against righties,” Rojas said. “He’s been really good, because of the arm slot and the deception. That’s why we brought him here…it wasn’t the case last night, but that’s why we brought him here, as a righty specialist.”
After consistently referring to matchups as a driving force behind his decisions, Rojas was asked how much his instincts, or his feel for the game factor into his strategy, if at all.
“We don’t go with anything against what our facts suggest,” Rojas said. “We do have the balance of what’s going on in the game, we’re watching the game and we make decisions based on that and balance both things…we’re not relying 100 percent on one side or the other. We’re balancing both, watching the game and trusting what we prepared for and what our guys have. That’s not exactly the analytics, as you guys say, but it’s the stuff of the pitcher against the particular hitter. It’s the matchup.”
While the preparation heading into a game is a collaborative effort, as is the discussions when deciding on removing a pitcher from a game, Rojas stressed that the decision is ultimately his own.
“It comes down to my decision in the game,” Rojas said. “I take full responsibility for the decisions we make in games.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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