Put simply, this was a terrible loss this afternoon for the Mets and I think the loss falls in large part on Jerry Manuel. Here’s why:
Manuel obviously had a plan. To pitch Scott Schoeneweis, his No. 2 lefty, against Casey Kotchman, then bring in Brian Stokes to face Jeff Francoeur. After Stokes, it would still leave him Pedro Feliciano, his No. 1 lefty, to face Josh Anderson. In a perfect world, Manuel’s matchups would’ve gotten the Mets through to the ninth with the lead.
My question is this: Why not turn to Feliciano first? Kotchman is clearly a more dangerous hitter than Anderson. Plus, you couldn’t afford to load the bases there and set up a big inning, which is exactly what happened when Kotchman singled off Schoeneweis. By the time Feliciano entered the game the Mets were trailing. Matchups didn’t matter by that point.
That’s a tough loss to bounce back from, although the Mets have started strong in Game 2. More later…
