The top of the Mets' vaunted rotation has underachieved so far this season
Noah Syndergaard of the Mets walks to the dugout as he leaves a game against the Giants during the seventh inning at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
This really can’t be put in any simpler terms. If their rotation doesn’t pitch to the level that everyone expected this season, the Mets are done. Like, right now. Last one out of the Ms. Lauryn Hill concert, turn off the lights and lock the door at Citi Field.
Mickey Callaway knows it. You know it.
Four years ago, the Mets advanced to the World Series on mostly these same shoulders. Jason Vargas has replaced Matt Harvey, the burned-out Dark Knight, but incredibly, in 2019, Vargas over Harvey is a major upgrade.
And still the Mets (31-33) can’t even get over .500, never mind within arm’s reach of the division-leading Phillies. What gives?
Health hasn’t been an issue, aside from Jacob deGrom’s brief elbow scare and Vargas’ hamstring tweak. Yet before Saturday’s game, Callaway held up Vargas and Steven Matz as the two shining examples to which the other starters need to aspire.
That’s a fairly mind-blowing statement. Vargas leads the rotation with a 2.84 ERA and Matz trimmed his ERA to 3.88 — a few ticks behind deGrom (3.45) — by allowing two earned runs in six innings Saturday night in the Mets’ 5-3 win over the Rockies.
Matz had a season-high 10 strikeouts, none more crowd-pleasing than Daniel Murphy in the second inning, when he buzzed his chin with a 93-mph heater, then froze him with 94 at the knees, on the black.
Matz equaled his career high with 120 pitches, and he knows the rotation has to push itself if this season is to be saved.
“I don’t think that anything has changed,” said Matz, who has a 1.80 ERA in his last five Citi Field starts. “It’s just a mindset we’re trying to establish.”
Now it’s a matter of getting the others, primarily Noah Syndergaard (4.83) and Zack Wheeler (4.61), to provide more than occasional flashes of brilliance.
“Those three guys have to pitch really well consistently for us to win because they’re the strength of our team,” Callaway said. “If we get our starters rolling and those three guys clicking — with Matz and Vargas, the way they’re pitching — we’re going to get back in this thing. There’s no doubt in my mind.”
DeGrom, with last year’s Cy Young Award on his resume, has struggled to put hitters away. The Rockies hounded him with 40 foul balls to run up his pitch count Friday, which stopped him at six innings. Because he’s deGrom, we’re confident he’ll figure things out, even if it takes more pairings with his fave catcher, Tomas Nido.
As for Syndergaard and Wheeler, we’re more skeptical. It’s been more than two months, and neither has settled into any sort of reliable groove.
The problem with the Mets’ underachieving rotation is twofold. First off, they’re not keeping other teams off the board the way they should. And second, the starters are leaving too much responsibility to the team’s suspect bullpen, which currently has only three trusted relievers (out of seven overall).
Not only does Callaway need his starters to step up, but he’ll have to stick with them longer. Heading into Saturday night, the Mets’ relievers had an 11.01 ERA in their previous 10 games and were 26th in the majors for the season with a 5.19 ERA.
In order to avoid handing those walking gas cans the baseball, the manager insists he already has been pushing his starters, citing the fact that deGrom, Syndergaard and Wheeler rank in MLB’s top 10 in pitches per game.
Now they have to be more efficient in stretching those pitches and more successful.
“We’re leaning on them,” Callaway said. “We need them to get the job done. I think that they’re starting to come around. When we put up a run, that’s their job to put up zero. That sometimes has kind of hurt us, especially when Noah’s pitched, that’s kind of been a theme.”
Callaway was right to single out Thor. According to a stat computed by The Athletic’s Tim Britton, Syndergaard has posted a zero after a Mets run only 45 percent of the time (10-for-22). Wheeler has been the best at 86 percent (18-for-21).
But the formula for any Mets rebound isn’t complicated. Matz put it on display again with a skill and tenacity that’s been in short supply this season. Callaway now must hope the rest of the rotation was paying attention.
“He was fantastic,” he said. “That’s pitching at its finest.”
When it comes to the Mets’ rotation, anything less won’t be good enough.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
