Reese Kaplan -- Early Season Roster Casualties

In sports as in politics (and life in general) there is a certain phenomenon in which one person can do a great many things wrong and no one notices nor cares, yet when another individual does just one thing wrong there are cries of, “Off with his head!”

Picture by Reese Kaplan

This issue arose recently with the 25^th man on the roster, Tim Peterson, who was dispatched to upstate New York to join the Syracuse club because he had the temerity to post a 4.50 ERA over a whopping 4 innings of work.  Granted, his control has been horrific with 6 walks and 2 wild pitches, but if you held a mirror up under the noses of a great many Mets relievers you wouldn’t necessarily find many signs of life. 

Take one-time closer Jeurys Familia.  He has appeared in 5 innings thus far but happened to be in the right place at the right time as he has two vultured victories to go along with his 5.40 ERA.

Then there’s Seth Lugo, he of the multi-inning setup role or critical 7^th inning work.  Thus far this season he’s been odiferous with an 8.52 ERA over 6.1 innings of work. 

Now one thing both Familia and Lugo have going for them (besides track records of success in the past) is that they’re fanning batters at a 12-14 per 9 IP rate.  Consider that the pitching equivalent of a Todd Frazier who can pop the long ball despite hovering around the interstate.  (A better analogy might be recently deposed slugger Jay Bruce who has 7 dingers to go along with his .188 AVG). 

Zack Wheeler and Jason Vargas have not exactly been the stuff of which dreams are made in 2019.  Yet in Wheeler’s case he was way too good for most of 2018 to think he’s suddenly lost it.  In Vargas’ case, well, let’s just say he makes too much money for the club to admit its mistake and have him rot on the bench. 

Picture by Reese Kaplan

Now the flip side of this Peterson equation is Corey Oswalt, a one-time reasonably hot prospect who kind of fell off the minor league gurus’ lists the past year plus.  He’s managed to appear in but a single start and was not great but not bad – 5.1 IP and a 4.76 ERA.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a 4.76 ERA in AAA worse than a 4.50 ERA in the majors?  But hey, what do I know? 

To be fair, Oswalt has displayed great control thus far and his less than eye-popping strikeout ability probably takes a back seat to his 0.88 WHIP.  However, if you looked up and down the AAA stat sheet you would find others already on the 40-man roster who not only have outperformed Oswalt, but who also are natural relievers.  Eric Hanhold and Paul Sewald both have 0.00 ERAs as they tap danced around walks.  Lefty Daniel Zamora may have a 3.38 ERA, but he’s fanning people at a 13.5 per 9 IP rate and has not walked anyone. 

Picture by Ernest Dove

Starter Drew Gagnon picked right up where he left off in 2018 with a fine start, 3 hits, a 5:1 K to BB ratio and a perfect 0.00 ERA.  Chris Flexen is 1-0 with a 3.00 and a 12K per 9 IP rate. 

I’m sure there were reasons to pick Oswalt over the others, but Peterson seems to be something of a sacrificial lamb.  He’s probably love to have the 2^nd and 3^rd chances of some of the other Mets pitchers, but as a somewhat older soft-tosser, he’s not got much leverage nor track record on which to stand.  He’ll soon have good company when the club is likely going to dispatch little-used infielder Luis Guillorme to Syracuse to make room for the $9 million paycheck (if not robust bat) of Todd Frazier.