Just Mets

Logan Verrett was the scheduled starter for the Las Vegas 51s on Friday night in their game against Reno.

However, he was scratched from that start moments before first pitch – Tyler Pill made the start instead and allowed seven runs on five hits with three walks in only 0.2 innings.

Verrett will be in New York ahead of Saturday’s game against the Dodgers at Citi Field, replacing Jon Niese on the roster who has departed the team to be with his wife in Ohio as they celebrate the birth of their new baby son, Tatum.

Niese pitched last night despite learning his wife was likely to deliver their new son sometime on Friday night and was ineffective, allowing six runs on eight hits in only three innings to send the Mets to their third loss in a row and a 2-6 record since the All-Star break.

Everything Niese threw for a strike was essentially down the middle of the plate. He was erratic, falling behind with his fastball early in the count, which made him predictable, and he couldn’t located his two-seamer on the outer edge and down, something that had made him so effective over the last six weeks.

It can be boiled down to Niese simply being distracted and unfocused because of what was going on at home, and that’s totally fine. He’s a human being, it’s a momentous occasion in his life and the life of his entire family, and it’s ok if his mind wasn’t on work for a day or two as he prepared and made this start. He gets a pass.

However, the Mets probably should have gone ahead, scratched Niese from the start and sent him home before the game, with Verrett starting against the Dodgers on Friday night instead. It’s a pennant race, and as excited everyone is for Niese and his family, the team still had a game to win.

“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if [the birth] played a fairly large factor,” Terry Collins said after the Mets fell 7-2 to the Dodgers on Friday night. “He was on call up until about 5 o’clock, when he determined he wanted to pitch. Probably later than that, like 5:30.”

Still, teammates such as Kevin Plawecki appreciated Niese’s dedication on Friday.

“I know he wanted to be with his wife, especially today,” Plawecki said after the game. “It showed his character to even want to be here and compete, and I think he gave 110 percent and that’s all we can ask.”

Niece can be on the paternity list for up to three days, at which point he must be reinstated.