Yesterday’s NY Mets loss vs. KC Royals was managed like a punt on first down

A 16-12 loss made some New York Mets. It’s only the second time in franchise history they’ve crossed the plate a dozen times and been on the wrong side. It happens. In 2026, it’s happening a lot more.

The loss was, at least for management, deserved. Whether the calls were coming from the front office exclusively or as much on Andy Green, the Mets were set up to fail. If the intention was to fall behind one of MLB’s worst teams, the Kansas City Royals, and ensure themselves a top 6 draft pick next year, the Mets played themselves a game of 3D Chess.

But that’s probably not what this was. A shorthanded bullpen on a day when you were going to need arms, the Mets planned this out out poorly. It’s like trying to eat the middle of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup before biting around the side. You’re going to create a mess.

The Mets were asking to lose yesterday’s game vs. the Royals

Cionel Perez started and as an opener, didn’t factor into the game very much. It was the continued choice of calling upon Kodai Senga for bulk work that lit the dynamite. While Seth Lugo stayed on the mound to take a whipping from the Mets hitters, Senga was carefully removed and Austin Warren came in. No better and unable to retire a single batter he faced, the Mets then needed to have Huascar Brazoban throw almost 40 pitches across two innings.

Things were already a mess. Then came Matt Seelinger, a local kid recently acquired via trade with the Detroit Tigers. No storm rolled in, only Murphy’s Law. His first inning was a 7-run drubbing and he was asked to go at it again in the 8th. A.J. Minter finished it off because no one else was fresh enough/he was the freshest.

It’s a cause and effect while continuing to do the same things over and over again that leaves us frustrated. We understand the brutality of the schedule right now for this team and how you won’t always have all of your bullpen arms available. It’s the way this one was set from the beginning with continued faith in Senga that irritates.

The usage of a bulk guy only works when he does well. Senga hasn’t. It seems to be an excuse just to yank him out of games a little quicker. Good for maybe two innings at most thus far through this experiment, Senga didn’t wait and let Kansas City get on the board immediately.

A powderkeg of destruction was created with all of the poor decision making. Seelinger’s rough debut was a flip of the coin. Lifetime minor leaguers in their 30s tend to have a game to remember with one extreme or the other. It looked like a Make-A-Wish kid getting tackled. Able to get through his second inning of work undamaged with a lone double charged to him, this was completely preventable had the Mets actually had real intentions of winning the game.

Getting upset about the Mets losing games at this point is like getting upset about a woodpecker who pecks wood. It’s the how. Shorthanded again for Wednesday, it all began by setting unrealistic exceptions for Senga. It’s not happening. The bulk reliever premise with him might have netted a better 5.91 ERA vs. the 9.00 as a starter. The cost remains the same.