HOUSTON — With six weeks till the trade deadline, perusing the Mets’ roster and trying to find the weak spots they should shore up is an exercise in observing the obvious.
The rotation is more than fine, particularly if and when Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom return from injury. The lineup began this road trip as the highest-scoring group in the National League with nary an upgradeable hole — besides designated hitter if the Mets decide some combination of J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith and, say, Mark Vientos isn’t good enough. But the bullpen? The bullpen needs help, particularly from the left side.
After Chasen Shreve’s ugly outing in an 8-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday — one inning, four runs — both of the Mets’ lefthanded relievers have ERAs that could be characterized as unsightly: 5.61 for Shreve, 5.06 for Joely Rodriguez.
Combine that with the reality that the Mets don’t have an easy choice as their best setup man behind Edwin Diaz — Drew Smith? Seth Lugo? Trevor May when he is healthy? — and it becomes clear for what they’ll probably be shopping between now and Aug. 2.
The Mets trailed by just three runs when Shreve took over in the fifth. He struck out Martin Maldonado for the first out before having trouble with the top of the lineup.
Jose Altuve walked. Michael Brantley singled. Alex Bregman grounded out, advancing both runners, and Yordan Alvarez walked on four pitches to load the bases.
That brought up Kyle Tucker, who got ahead 2-and-0 — making it six straight balls for Shreve — and laced a three-run double to right-centerfield. Alvarez, a lumbering DH, blew through third-base coach Gary Pettis’ stop sign to score from first without a play. Starling Marte’s throw missed the first cutoff man, second baseman Luis Guillorme, and trickled to shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Shreve allowed two more baserunners, including Mauricio Dubon, who drove in a run with a single, before finishing the inning at 35 pitches. The game wasn’t close anymore.
It didn’t help that the Mets managed little against righthander Jose Urquidy (4.68 ERA). He allowed one run and four hits in six innings.
Their lone run against him came on Pete Alonso’s home run in the sixth. The 126th long ball of his career meant he broke a tie with Lucas Duda (125) for eighth on the Mets’ all-time list.
Righthander Trevor Williams, making a spot start to plug the gap between Tylor Megill (suffered a right shoulder strain in his last start) and Scherzer (might return Sunday), allowed three runs in four innings. All of the damage came in the third inning, when Altuve and Alvarez tagged him for home runs, both hit very hard but neither hit particularly far.
Williams allowed four hits in all, walked three (including Bregman on four pitches before Alvarez went deep) and struck out two.
Bouncing between the bullpen (seven relief appearances) and rotation (six starts), sometimes going weeks without really knowing when he’ll pitch, Williams has been largely effective in his first full season in the swingman role, posting a 3.86 ERA.
“Like a lot of our guys, he doesn’t look at it as an excuse for failure,” manager Buck Showalter said before the game. “It’s what the team needs to do. You’re right, though. It’s not easy to go periods of time (without pitching).
“It’s a real tribute to him that he’s been able to dial up what we need. I can’t tell you how many times he’s come in and I go, ‘That’s it, nice going’ and he goes, ‘I got another inning if you need it.’ That’s kind of always been his response. That’s why he’s wanted on the club and valuable to us.”
