The Mets' rotation woes are spinning out of control
Mets starting pitcher Rick Porcello reacts after Nationals shortstop Trea Turner hits a solo home run during the first inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
A lot has changed for everyone in 2020. Just about all of it bad, especially for the once-vaunted Mets’ rotation.
A year ago, the Mets went 46-26 after the All-Star break to climb into the wild-card race and finish a mere three games out of the playoffs. The second-half surge inspired talk of a bright future in Flushing, with a core of promising young players as its foundation.
But the key ingredient has mostly vanished, nearly wiped out -- with the exception of back-to-back Cy winner Jacob deGrom. As the ’19 rotation gradually eroded, the resulting decay also has exposed GM Brodie Van Wagenen’s failed strategy to fortify that group.
During last year’s second-half run, over 72 games, the Mets ranked first overall in ERA (3.13), third in WHIP (1.16), fifth in K/BB ratio (3.96) and seventh in opponents batting average (.237). If not for their trademark early stumbles, the Mets would have played in October, riding a stacked deck of front-line starters.
And now? Even with the expanded playoffs -- opening up the field to eight teams from each league -- the non-deGrom portion of this rotation is questionable to survive August, never mind qualify for October.
Before Rick Porcello took the mound Tuesday night, through the first 17 games, the Mets’ starters (with deGrom, mind you) ranked 26th in both ERA (5.34) and WHIP (1.39). Their .273 OBA was 27th.
Once Porcello left, after going toe-to-toe with Max Scherzer for six innings, he at least provided a rare glimpse of optimism in the Mets’ 2-1 loss. Porcello isn’t going to save this shaky rotation by himself, but after allowing only two runs to trim his ERA to 5.68, he’s looking more like a potential solution than another problem, despite the Mets falling to 7-11.
“It’s one of those years where it’s early -- but it’s not,” Porcello said. “We’re creeping up almost on the halfway point of the season and we really need to get going as a staff and consistently give our guys a chance to win every night. So for me, we had a tough one [Monday] and I want to be the guy that stops it and get us back on the right track. The rotation can gain momentum.”
In Porcello’s last two starts -- both against the Nats -- he’s given up a total of three runs in 13 innings, with zero walks and nine strikeouts. Trea Turner hit the game’s second pitch into the rightfield seats and Porcello surrendered a two-out, RBI single by Victor Robles in the second inning before shutting down the Nats.
No one expected the rotation to carry the team like it had in the past. Not after losing Zack Wheeler ($118M deal to the Phillies) and Noah Syndergaard (TJ surgery) long before this 60-game even began.
But Marcus Stroman’s shocking opt-out Monday, right on the heels of Michael Wacha going on the IL with shoulder inflammation, sounded another alarm for a rotation that already was ablaze. Then Steven Matz followed Stroman’s stunner by throwing batting practice to the Nats, who hammered him for eight runs in 4 1/3 innings. Matz’s implosion -- perhaps triggered by him tipping pitches -- set off a chain-reaction that later opened the door for infielder Luis Guillorme to pitch the ninth inning of the 16-4 shellacking.
Comic relief aside, the Mets returned to a harsh reality Tuesday. First by crossing their fingers for another positive start from Porcello while prepping the newly-activated Walter Lockett for what is likely to be the long-man role Wednesday following an opener, like Robert Gsellman or Justin Wilson.
Porcello, along with Wacha, was part of Van Wagenen winter insurance policy for the back end of the rotation -- a strategy of employing relatively low-cost reclamation projects. Given the nature of Wacha’s injury, he could be gone for this season, but Porcello is starting to make good on his one-year, $10-million deal.
Lockett was among Brodie’s first trades, acquired from the Indians for backup catcher Kevin Plawecki, and he’s pitched his way onto the GM’s lowlight reel after an 8.34 ERA in nine appearances (four starts) last season. Rojas wouldn’t commit to naming him Wednesday’s starter yet, but he’s the only one stretched out to take the biggest chunk of that assignment.
The Mets have pinned their hopes on the highly-touted David Peterson, who is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA as Stroman’s sub. But he’s a not the cure by himself. Just another patch for the shattered dream of a year ago.
“We were living and surviving without Marcus,” Van Wagenen said Monday. “What this team has shown already and what I'm confident they will do going forward is, is have the next man stand up and keep fighting.”
Bottom line, that next man up -- whoever it may be -- needs to start getting a few people out.
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.
