The Mets’ game against the San Diego Padres on Thursday was primed to become an affront to the eyes of baseball purists.
Instead of having Jacob deGrom’s strikeout ingenuity on the Citi Field mound, the Mets started Rafael Montero, who entered the night with an 0-3 record and an 8.10 earned run average.
With ugly weather surrounding the New York area all day — and the Yankees having canceled their game against the visiting Kansas City Royals earlier — the Mets decided to push deGrom back to prevent the possibility of him from throwing a few innings and then being interrupted by a lengthy delay, essentially wasting a start.