Mets manager Mickey Callaway didn't respond well to questions about his bullpen management Sunday, leading to him cursing out a reporter in the clubhouse at Wrigley Field. But would pulling Seth Lugo before the Cubs' Javier Baez hit a game-winning, three-run homer in the eighth inning really have changed an L to a W for the Mets? That was something WFAN's Gregg Giannotti and Jerry Recco debated Monday morning.
Callaway's critics have argued he should've gone to closer Edwin Diaz in the eighth. But Diaz has struggled himself.
"If you have a feel and you're seeing Seth Lugo, who said that he stunk, and Mickey's like, 'Oh, I thought he had good stuff' -- he didn't!" Giannotti said on the "Boomer and Gio" show. "That is the problem. It's just another example of the manager not having his finger on the pulse of this team."
"Or it's another example of the manager not having anybody else to go to," said Recco, who was filling in Monday for Boomer Esiason.
"This is what we're dealing with: You're looking at Chris Flexen, Stephen Nogosek, Brooks Pounder and Wilmer Font," Recco added. "God almighty, if you bring Edwin Diaz in in that spot, he blows another game, you took your best reliever out.
"I'll tell you what I said to my son watching the game, 'If I see Edwin Diaz in this game before the ninth inning, I'm going to throw something at the TV. I don't want him anywhere near this game in the eighth inning. He's been horrific,'" Recco continued.
Regardless, Callaway's confrontation with Newsday reporter Tim Healey was out of line, Giannotti said.
"That's not the fire we were looking for (from Callaway)," Gio said. "We were looking for a little more professional fire out there on the baseball field, not the fire of 'I'm going to go fight this reporter because apparently the way he said "I'll see you tomorrow, Mickey" was unsatisfactory.'"
To listen to the open from Monday's show, click on the audio player above.
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