Prior to Saturday's game against the Seattle Mariners, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza gave some updates on the team…
Luisangel Acuña as 27th man
With New York playing in the MLB Little League Classic on Sunday in Williamsport, PA, the team is allowed to roster a 27th man and it will be Acuña.
"We get a 27th man for tomorrow's game and it's got to be a position player," Mendoza said. "So he's here for taxi squad and he'll be active tomorrow as the 27th."
Acuña last played in the majors on July 29 against the San Diego Padres, coming in as a defensive replacement for Starling Marte in the eighth inning. Over 78 games with the Mets this season, the 23-year-old is hitting just .239 with seven doubles, seven RBI, 11 walks, and 12 stolen bases.
Since being sent back down to Triple-A, Acuña has played nine games for Syracuse. He's hitting .263 (10-for-38) with two doubles, two RBI, and one walk.
Mendoza did not share if Acuña will start the special event or just be available off the bench as a substitute.
On managing a pitcher in his MLB debut
Nolan McLean will make his highly anticipated debut Saturday afternoon against the Mariners as New York DFA'd Paul Blackburn to make room for the 24-year-old. Mendoza discussed his philosophy for managing a pitcher in their debut, saying you need to be able to adjust in hopes they "finish on a positive note."
"You want him to finish on a positive note as much as possible, but at the same time, you're managing the game accordingly," Mendoza said. "You have an idea, but the game will tell you what to do. You got to be able to adjust.
"Yeah, you keep in mind that it's his first outing. Like I said, ideally you want to end it on a positive note, but the game will tell you."
McLean has been dominant in the minors this season, going 8-5 with a 2.45 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 127 strikeouts over 113.2 IP with Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Syracuse. He said Friday how it's a "dream come true" to make his debut and hopes to give the Mets a much-needed boost to their pitching rotation.
Fighting through adversity
After Friday's tough 11-9 loss, Francisco Lindorsaid the team is "not clicking at the same time" and getting "outplayed" by other teams. With the loss, New York has dropped 14 of their last 16 games and fallen to 64-58 after starting the year 45-24.
Despite the downward trend, Lindor and others still expressed a belief they can turn it around. Mendoza was asked about the team's struggles and discussed the challenge at hand, saying they need to "find a way" to "put it together."
"Of course it's a challenge, but there's a lot of experience there and there's talent, right," Mendoza said. "We've been through adversity before and we come on top of it. We've gotten through it before. It's taken a long time this time.
"But again, nobody's going to feel sorry for you, nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We got to find a way, we got to find a way. That's the bottom line. Is it hard to describe? Yes, because of the talent that we got there. And it seems like one day it's this area, the next day it's the other area. We just got to put it together. We haven't been able to do that."
