Considering how one of the most questioned moves Mickey Callaway made all season was pulling Steven Matz in Atlanta, there’s a certain irony in the Mets season effectively ending because Callaway inexplicably stuck with Matz. It was that one decision which set off dominos which fell faster than the Mets hopes.

After Matz allowed a run in the third, he seemed to get on a run putting zeros on the board in the fourth and fifth before a pivotal sixth.

The Marlins jumped on him loading the bases with Jorge Alfaro striding to the plate. This is the same Alfaro who homered off Matz in the second. It’s the same Alfaro who entered the game going 4-for-9 with a walk against Matz. This is the same Matz who is prone to the big inning and who has allowed 20 homers to right-handed batters this year.

Now, Callaway wasn’t caught flat footed. No, he had the bullpen up with Jeurys Familia apparently ready to go. Even with another option at the ready, and Alfaro hitting .255/.307/.395 against right-handed pitching, Callaway stuck with Matz, who surrendered a grand slam making it a 6-0 game.

The ramifications of that decision carried forward into the next inning leading to another curious decision.

Now, with a 6-0 deficit, you understand the impetus to go to Walker Lockett and save your top bullpen arms for another day. And yet, it was never the right decision; certainly not on September 23 with this being one of seven games remaining.

That’s what happened.

Keep in mind, the Mets rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Amed Rosario hit a grand slam that brought the Mets within two runs and gave them a much better chance to take a must-win game.

That set forth an inning where Lockett allowed the first two to reach. Both of those batters would score when Brad Brach failed to get over in time. In that moment, after the haze of the bad call, the arbitrary placement of base runners, and Brach’s hesitating cleared, you’re left to wonder how different things would’ve been had Brach started the inning.

And Brach should’ve started that inning. At 6-0, the Mets faced an uphill battle, and at that time, the team should’ve known falling down more makes a comeback all the more difficult. Given the Mets position in the Wild Card standings coupled with the games remaining, Lockett can not enter the game in that situation.

Using Lockett and Matz in those situations put the team in a precarious situation, and it was a real factor in six runs being scored.

Other critical decisions Callaway made, or purportedly made included leaving Brandon Nimmo out of the lineup despite his hitting .394/.512/.758 off left-handed pitching this year. To be fair, that was abated by Juan Lagares going 1-for-3 with a run and a walk in the game.

You could also look to Callaway letting Michael Conforto face Brian Moran. Against a tough LOOGY like Moran, you want a right-handed better. That goes double when you consider Moran’s numbers against right-handed batters in the minors and majors this year. While you’d be loathed to remove Conforto from the game, that decision could’ve been mitigated by bringing in Nimmo in his spot.

The problem is the only right-handed batter you somewhat trust is Rajai Davis, and he had popped out in the previous inning. After that, Jed Lowrie has one at-bat as a right-handed batter this year, and the other right-handed pinch hitting options were Tomas Nido and Rene Rivera.

Therein lies the problem.

This is a poorly constructed Mets roster, and Brodie Van Wagenen did nothing to address the team’s deficiencies in the bullpen and the bench at the trade deadline. As the GM, he has to know Callaway makes very questionable in-game moves (which may be why he texts over in-game moves to make).

A good GM realizes where his manager struggles, and he attempts to build a team to mitigate against that. Instead, Van Wagenen constructed a roster which actually feeds into Callaway’s deficiencies.

As a result, you have Matz for one batter too many, Lockett in the seventh, and a series of poor pinch hitting choices. It’s possible a good strategic manager wades his way through it all tonight, but Callaway isn’t that guy.