Mets bullpen ruins Carlos Mendozas decision to pull Brandon Sproat early

Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.Brandon Sproat’s impressive Citi Field debut got the young guns back on track. The Mets, in general, not so much. The rookie righty worked six scoreless innings in his first home start, but another flush job by the bullpen resulted in an eighth straight Mets loss Saturday, 3-2 to the Rangers. One day after fellow rookie Jonah Tong was rocked for six runs in the first inning, the 24-year-old Sproat scattered six hits in his six frames.

He didn’t walk anyone and mostly pitched to contact, with three strikeouts in an efficient 70-pitch outing. Carlos Mendoza explained that he turned over a 2-0 lead to the pen in the seventh after noticing a dip in Sproat’s velocity and some hard contact by the Rangers in the sixth. “Even though there were only 70 pitches, when you look up in that inning, there was a big-time velo drop,” Mendoza said.“Like 5-6 mph, from like 97-98 to 93, and there were some hard-hit balls there. “He got through that inning, and I checked with him, like, ‘Physically, are you fine?’ He said yes, but I said, ‘I’m gonna go to the bullpen here.’ He wanted to keep going and you respect that.

But when you’re watching an inning like that … he’s a guy that holds his velo.So I wasn’t going to take any chances.” Mendoza then insisted “no, not at all” when asked the natural follow-up question about any potential concern over Sproat’s physical condition. The rookie also dismissed those queries, saying multiple times, “I’m good,” afterward. “My goal is to just go out there and pitch as long as I can, compete for as long as I can until they take the ball from me,” Sproat said.

“I respect their call.That’s his call.

Obviously I never want the ball taken from me, I’m a competitor.I wanted to keep going, but I trust his decision and trust the bullpen behind me.” T...