SAN DIEGO — When Jose Quintana was struggling earlier in the season, mechanics were largely the issue.
But in evaluating his recent body of work, the Mets lefty can’t pinpoint a reason for his troubles.
Quintana, who is scheduled to face the Padres in Sunday’s series finale at Petco Park, has pitched to an 8.27 ERA in August.
In each of his last three starts he has allowed at least four earned runs.
“I have been struggling … but I am not feeling the way I was at the beginning of the season,” Quintana said. “I feel great. Nothing with my mechanics. No issue commanding the ball like I was in the beginning. I am totally confident and will come back strong Sunday.”
In his last start, against the Orioles on Tuesday, he surrendered seven earned runs over five innings, including two homers.
He’s allowed four homers over his last three starts, a stretch in which his ERA has jumped from 3.95 to 4.57.
“It’s kind of tough to put your finger on it,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said of Quintana’s recent slump. “Q has an unbelievable drive and competitive spirit, so making sure that continues and he believes in his stuff and he’s going to execute, that is the name of the game for him.
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“I think challenging guys earlier in counts and maybe try to find some quicker outs because when he has struggled, it has been ball one, ball two and before you know it he’s thrown eight pitches and gives up a single. Get back to the attack mindset we had in the middle of the year and get back to who he is.”
The Mets were awaiting a CT scan result on Paul Blackburn’s right hand as they prepared for Saturday’s game.
Blackburn departed in the third inning a night earlier after getting struck on the hand with a line drive.
The Mets said Blackburn had a contusion on the hand and initial X-rays were negative, but more wouldn’t be known until Blackburn underwent further testing.
If Blackburn can’t take his next turn in the rotation, the Mets will likely look toward Tylor Megill at Triple-A Syracuse.
Megill has struggled in two stints with the Mets this season, pitching to a 5.17 ERA in 10 appearances for the team.
Francisco Alvarez entered the day 0-for-12 since hitting a walk-off homer to beat the Orioles on Monday. Over that stretch, Alvarez had seven strikeouts.
He began the day with a .501 OPS for the month with only two RBIs.