Even with just 11 games left in this miserable season, Jerry Manuel isn’t above yanking Pat Misch from the rotation.
The Mets manager said Misch is on thin ice after yet another dreadful outing last night that saw the left-hander get shelled for eight runs — including three home runs — in 1 1/3 innings of an eventual 11-3 pounding by the Braves at Citi Field.
Misch, moved to the rotation from the bullpen in late August, has given up 17 runs in his past 12 1/3 innings over three starts. Manuel said Lance Broadway or September call-up Tobi Stoner, both of whom pitched last night, could take Misch’s spot.
Daniel Murphy, with a double and a homer to raise his September average to .304 (21-for-69), was the lone bright spot for the Mets, who have lost six in a row to Atlanta.
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Hard-throwing Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman has moved closer to entering baseball’s open market, and though the Mets plan to be one of his suitors, a team source was pessimistic about landing him because the deep-pocketed Yankees and Red Sox are likely to pursue the 21-year-old lefty.
The source said the Mets scouted Chapman during the World Baseball Classic in March and liked what they saw as his fastball consistently hit the high 90s. He is expected to get a signing bonus higher than the $32 million the Yankees gave Cuban defector Jose Contreras in 2002.
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Fresh off five shutout innings of two-hit ball, John Maine will have his workload expanded to 90 pitches in his next scheduled start Saturday in Miami against the Marlins as the Mets look for answers to questions about his durability and right shoulder going into the offseason. . . . Johan Santana was among the Mets who filmed team-produced video spots apologizing to fans for the dreadful season.