The New York Mets were pummeled by the Cincinnati Reds in their series opener Monday night, 12-0. The Mets followed up taking two of three against the Braves, who have the best record in the sport, with their biggest blowout loss of the year. 

This was a planned bullpen game, with New York bringing up bulk right-handed reliever Tobias Myers to start. Myers, who had been stretching out in Triple-A Syracuse, was able to get up to 43 pitches on the night, seven more than his last outing. Unfortunately for the Mets, he was only able to record four outs.

Over those four outs, Myers gave up four hits and allowed three walks, which culminated in a career-high seven earned runs. Myers struggled greatly to locate his pitches with only 18 of his 43 pitches (42%) finding the strike zone. Ultimately, he didn’t have much going for him in terms of command or limiting hard contact (50% Hard-Hit Rate). To make matters worse, he even surrendered a pair of soft-contact hits: a 73 mph double and a 30 mph single.

Myers’ struggles were bad enough on their own. Unfortunately for the Mets, the day’s bigger setback came before first pitch. 27 year-old righty Christian Scott landed on the injured list Monday afternoon with a reportedly minor hip issue. While his time on the shelf isn’t expected to last long, given how effective Scott’s been as of late, it’s a significant blow to a team still looking to stay on track.

Over Scott’s last four outings, here’s how he’s fared:

  • 21 innings, 19 hits, 5 earned runs, 7 walks, 22 strikeouts, 2.14 ERA, 1.24 WHIP

The Mets will have to continue with a patchwork rotation.

Sean Manaea has recently returned to the rotation, and Kodai Senga is expected back from the injured list for Game 2 of the series. But so far, only Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean have been mainstays, and their performances have been inconsistent at best.

Here’s how the rest of the rotation’s numbers have shaken out over their last four outings:

Freddy Peralta

  • 21.2 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 6 BB, 18 SO, 4.98 ERA, 1.39 WHIP

Nolan McLean

  • 18.1 IP, 13 H, 11 ER, 14 BB, 19 SO, 5.40 ERA, 1.47 WHIP

Sean Manaea

  • 18 IP, 12 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 19 SO, 3.00 ERA, 0.889 WHIP

Kodai Senga (rehab assignment)

  • 18 IP, 15 H, 8 ER, 6 BB, 17 SO, 4.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP

Meanwhile, injuries to Clay Holmes and Christian Scott, combined with David Peterson’s removal from the rotation, have left the Mets scrambling for answers.

Lately, they’ve relied on one or two bullpen games per turn through the rotation. This is not a sustainable formula for a team trying to climb back into contention. It’s only a matter of time the amount of outs being asked from the bullpen will impact their effectiveness more consistently.