Collins’ bullpen shuffle paying off for Mets

NEW YORK — No sooner had Terry Collins opted to take his starting pitcher, Gabriel Ynoa, out of the Mets’ 10-5 win over the Phillies on Friday than he began weaving a bullpen thread through his mind. Perhaps Logan Verrett could give the Mets two innings. Perhaps Josh Smoker and Erik Goeddel could provide another two. Then it would be the later third of the game — the Mets could play that part by ear.

“You try to plan it out,” Collins said, after using six pitchers and 20 total players in the victory. “It doesn’t always work. But tonight, fortunately, it paid off.”

Criticized — sometimes heavily — throughout this season for his bullpen usage, Collins has decided over the season’s final fortnight that he is not going to enter the offseason with regrets. He is treating every game like a postseason game, which is how he found himself in the position he did in the second inning Friday: his rookie spot starter struggling and due up at the plate.

Rather than let Ynoa hit, Collins removed him from the game, spinning his bullpen carousel into motion. This …

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