After an offseason of big additions and expenses, the New York Mets are, as of Thursday afternoon, in fourth place of the NL East with a highly disappointing 34-40 record.
They are already 13.5 games behind the top team in the division, the Atlanta Braves.
While the offense hasn’t been as good as advertised, it hasn’t been as problematic as the starting pitching, especially considering pre-season expectations.
Let’s remember the Mets entered the 2023 campaign with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Kodai Senga, Carlos Carrasco, David Peterson, Jose Quintana, Joey Lucchesi, and Tylor Megill as rotation options.
There are two Cy Young award winners, All-Stars, a promising Japanese import, and solid depth options there.
The performance, however, hasn’t been there in a consistent way.
Mets insider Mike Mayer posted the ERAs of the seven Mets pitchers who have been able to make five starts or more this year.
The numbers are not good at all.
ERA for the 7 Mets with at least 5 starts this year:
3.53 Kodai Senga
4.04 Max Scherzer
4.43 Joey Lucchesi
4.50 Justin Verlander
5.17 Tylor Megill
6.34 Carlos Carrasco
8.08 David Peterson— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) June 22, 2023
Only Senga has posted an ERA below 4.00.
Both Scherzer and Verlander have suffered from different physical ailments, but haven’t been consistent when healthy.
There is a good chance that they find their stride eventually, as long as they can stay off the injured list.
The landscape is not so promising for the rest of the staff, although Quintana should be back relatively soon.
Basically, what was supposed to be a strength for a contending team has turned into a nightmare scenario.
There is still time for the Mets to turn their season around, but they need their starters (who rank 26th out of 30 teams with a 5.01 ERA) to pick up the pace.
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