Mets' Manaea Eyed for Bullpen, Lineup Flexibility

0:00It's April 3rd. Welcome to New York Metz News today, AI-powered coverage of your squad. I'm Cori with the story. Metz Skipper Carlos Mendoza is eyeing Sean Menea for some key bullpen work soon. With three extra inning games already under their belt this season, the pen's been taxed for those extra 15 outs. Mendoza wants Menea throwing all his pitches in high-leveraged spots, especially during this four-game series against the Giants before they're next off. Day on Monday. To keep Menea stretched out and start ready, Mendoza prefers him hitting 50 to 60 pitches per outing. But squeezing that in during live action is tricky. They'll game plan and adjust as needed. In his only appearance so far, on March 29 against the pirates, Menea threw 29 pitches over one and a third innings, giving up one. Hit and two walks. Shifting to the lineup, Jorge Palonco's back at designated hitter for the fourth straight game, nursing a sore Achilles. He's close to returning to first base, but Mendoza is using the DH spot to give guys like Mark Vientos more playtime.

1:05The Intos, whose two for five with a double early on, has started the last two at first and knows chances come even off the bench, just like Brett. Beatty's recent pinch hits. Meanwhile, rookie outfielder Carson Benga is settling in after his MLB debut last week. He's three for 19 over six games with five starts, including that first game Homer. Mendoza says Benjays learning on the fly, facing traffic and match-up decisions, like sitting him today against lefty Robbie Ray and the team plans to. Keep supporting his growth. All this flexibility in the pin-in lineup shows how the met are adapting early, balancing health, development and wins as the schedule heats up.