As Carlos Carrasco struggles again in loss, Mets would be better off giving a younger starter a chance
Carlos Carrasco #59 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning at Busch Stadium on August 20, 2023 in St Louis. Credit: Getty Images/Dilip Vishwanat
ST. LOUIS — Carlos Carrasco drew the start in the Mets’ 7-3 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon, and it went predictably poorly.
He blew two leads and gave up at least one hit in every inning. Across four frames (plus two batters in the fifth), he allowed three runs and nine hits — and it could have been worse. Eleven of the 18 balls that St. Louis put in play against him registered as hard-hit.
That pushed the Mets further toward an uncomfortable reality: If the point of the rest of this season really is gathering information about potential 2024 contributors, they would be better off replacing Carrasco, a respected and likable veteran, in the rotation with a younger pitcher.
Give, say, Joey Lucchesi an extended chance. Maybe righthanded prospect Mike Vasil should make a major-league cameo if his recent Triple-A trends keep up.
Getting looks at anybody who feasibly is a part of the Mets’ future would be a more productive use of the rotation spot than allowing Carrasco, 36, who has a 6.42 ERA and is in the last season of his contract, to continue.
“It’s not something we’re thinking about right now,” manager Buck Showalter said. “That would be something that everybody would weigh in on. Carlos has had some competitive outings for us here recently, and that’s been big for us.”
Showalter made his point in the context of the trade deadline, before which the Mets dealt Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, creating huge holes in the starting staff. Carrasco has helped carry the load since, Showalter said.
But he has a 6.50 ERA and is averaging 4 1⁄2 innings per outing this month.
“Carlos, he’s competing, he’s giving us a chance,” Showalter said. “That is all you can ask.”
Life in the majors leaves little room for sentiment, but if the Mets want to do right by Carrasco at this stage of his career, that is totally fine. He has played for a long time and done a lot of good in his communities, including New York, where his “Cookie’s Kids” program hosts pediatric cancer patients once per month at Citi Field.
Removing him from the rotation would not require cutting him altogether. They could move him to the bullpen, where he would serve as a long reliever — which the team doesn’t really have right now, though some of its games are ripe for one.
Looking ahead to next year, the Mets have many rotation questions, and it’s not clear how many answers will come internally. So they might as well learn as much as they can about who they have.
David Peterson and Tylor Megill are in the middle of de facto auditions. Lucchesi is not in the same bucket. The Mets called him up for a spot start Friday and he tossed 5 2⁄3 scoreless innings against the Cardinals. Then they shipped him right back to Syracuse to add a reliever.
Showalter noted at the time of the transaction that “you’re very careful about promising anything” to a player regarding a surefire return to the majors. Sometimes when a player gets demoted, Showalter says the opposite, noting that he’ll surely be back.
And on Sunday morning, before Carrasco took the mound, Showalter mentioned unsolicited that Peterson, Megill and Lucchesi will have minor-league options — and thus can be stashed in the minors and serve as depth pieces — heading into 2024. Maybe it’s a hint about how the organization views that trio at a stage when they have not separated themselves at the major-league level.
“That’s positive for us,” Showalter said of that roster flexibility.
Vasil, 23, is an interesting one. He is the Mets’ closest-to-the-majors pitching prospect and did well again Sunday for Syracuse, his third decent-or-better start in a row after what statistically was a rough adjustment period to a new level.
Showalter and others have been outwardly excited about what his future looks like, but it’s worth bringing him to the majors this year only if they deem him ready. There doesn’t have to be a rush.
In the meantime, Carrasco apparently will keep taking the ball. He is scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Angels.
“I think I’ve said it before: It’s one of those seasons where I’m just trying to figure it out,” he said. “We’re gonna have a lot of ups and downs. I’m pretty sure I have more downs than ups.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
