Tommy Pham’s second tenure with the Mets is finished after only two weeks, and another veteran bat is headed to Queens.
Pham was informed Sunday night that he will be designated for assignment. The club has signed Austin Slater, according to industry sources.
Slater, 33, owned a .460 OPS in 11 games with the Marlins this season before his release.
Pham, 38, was 0-for-13 at the plate in a part-time role after arriving on a minor league deal.
As the starting left fielder in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader, he went 0-for-2 and did not appear in the nightcap. The Mets lost 3-1 and 3-0 to the Rockies.
Nolan McLean was “pretty happy” with his start Sunday, but it was hardly his cleanest outing of the season.
The Mets rookie worked into the sixth inning in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader but never recorded an out before he was removed with the bases loaded in the team’s 3-1 loss to the Rockies.
The Rockies also produced traffic in the fourth, driving up McLean’s pitch count. Overall, he allowed two runs, one unearned, on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He threw 91 pitches.
“I thought my stuff was in a good spot,” McLean said. “I am pretty happy with the outing. There was some traffic there in a couple of innings, but I felt I did a good job.”
It was the team’s fourth straight loss in a game started by McLean, who has yet to surrender more than three earned runs in an outing this season. The right-hander owns a 2.55 ERA in his six starts.
Is there added pressure knowing the room for error might be minuscule given this struggling lineup?
“The way we see it in the clubhouse, it’s just any minute now,” McLean said. “We look at the lineup going out there each day and we know how hard they are working. It’s just a matter of time. We know how good these players are.”
Jorge Polanco has begun running and hitting off a tee in his rehab from a right wrist contusion. Polanco is also dealing with right Achilles bursitis that has been an ongoing issue since the opening weekend of the season. Polanco is under evaluation on a week-to-week basis, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.
