Mets reliever Rafael Montero threw 35 straight fastballs in Friday's loss to the Braves, and the Mets are looking for him to vary his pitch selection moving forward, the New York Post reports.
"What bothered me was [Montero] did not use his two-seam fastball, he did not use his changeup, which have both been huge pitches for him all the way along," pitching coach Dan Warthen said. "He has to learn to shake off and call his own pitches. He will mature. He will get better."
Catcher Travis d'Arnaud took the blame for the unvaried pitch selection.
"It all falls on me," d’Arnaud said. "I will take full responsibility for that."
"The pitcher has the ball in his hand and he makes the call," Warthen said. "I think [Friday] might be a great life lesson. [Montero] certainly could have been out of that inning easily anyway, but that is just a good learning lesson."
Montero gave up the go-ahead two-run single to Braves infielder Phil Gosselin in the eighth inning.
"I don’t care what the name on the back says, these are big league hitters," manager Terry Collins said Saturday. "You can’t throw all those fastballs right in a row without them all of a sudden getting engaged. They have got to see an offspeed pitch."