Zac Thornton fights through rough start in first taste of Mets adversity in loss to Marlins
Pitching in front of a 1986 Mets team that can appreciate such traits, Zac Thornton showed more grit than gas.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.
More savvy than stuff.More resilience than results.So there were reasons to be encouraged.
And there were more obvious reasons to be discouraged.For the first time Thornton was knocked around, which is a concern for a pitcher with plenty to prove.But while wearing a uniform with racing stripes along the side of his body, the young Mets lefty handled the first adversity of his major league career well.
If there is a quality that the ’86 Mets personified, it probably would be the fight that Thornton demonstrated Saturday afternoon.On a day the Mets’ organization and fans celebrated their most recent World Series title, the 2026 version of the team ensured virtually no attention was paid to when the next one will arrive.The Mets lost again, 6-2 to the Marlins, in front of 30,078 at Citi Field who thanked the past and cursed the present.
The best and maybe only positive thing to arise from this year’s disastrous club (47-65) is what looks like the formation of a young rotation that might carry them in the future.Behind Nolan McLean and Christian Scott, Thornton has emerged over the past five-plus weeks and looked like a keeper.These Mets games don’t matter, but Thornton — who was called up for good in late June and entered play having allowed four runs in 25 ⅓ innings (1.42 ERA) in four starts since — does.Which is why Saturday’s outing, in which he allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 4 ⅔ innings, was not ideal but also not wasted.
The 24-year-old rookie was not going to dazzle every start.Limiting damage without his best stuff — holding Miami to 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position to — is a lesson worth learning.The Marlins scored once in the fi...