When folks start to go stir-crazy, they start voicing opinions about wanting to do “something” without really specifying what it is that’s desired. Often it’s just waiting for news of any kind so there will be something to talk about rather than buckets of the same old stories they’ve grown deaf to hearing anymore. Unfortunately, that day just arrived for Mets fans.
When hoping for team news to help refresh the taste for baseball, many wanted to hear something about the roster personnel to let them know that the team was progressing on some fronts. Well, news arrived that predominated the headlines regarding the Mets, but it was the pull-the-rug-out-from-under-you kind of revelation -- that young pitching ace Noah Syndergaard tested positive for UCL damage and would undergo surgery this week that will leave him on the shelf for about 15 months or so before returning to finish out his Mets career long after the 2021 season begins.
I’m not going to rehash the nature of the injury, what he did improperly to strain a part of his body, the long recovery process or the parallels to other pitchers who recovered and flourished as a result of having this now almost mandatory pitcher hospital procedure. No, the question is what do the Mets do with their glaringly vacant starting position in the front five?
Not long ago I wrote about the quandary of how to live with both Steve Matz and Michael Wacha on the same roster with similar lifetime numbers and neither holding a huge volume of innings in the bullpen. At that time I advocated Matz over Wacha both due to his left handedness and the fact they would save a ton of money not having to pay Wacha incentives for games started and other milestones achieved.
That ship has now sailed. The risk in going with Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Rick Porcello, Steve Matz and Michael Wacha is less about money than it is about health. Wacha in particular has not been Cy Young when it comes to durability on the mound. He has had a lot of time on the injured list with arm and shoulder issues. Relying on him in 20% of your games is not a gamble in terms of the quality you’re receive or the money he will cost, but whether or not he can stay out of the bright lights of a medical care professionals.
Of course, the Mets being the Mets, they may find payroll incentives overruling the desire to win games. In that case there are other alternatives they can embrace. Starter Walker Lockett is still on the 40-man roster and had some credible outings this Spring, but overall has not posted much in the majors or upper minors to think that at age 26 will have finally put it together.
Another direction to take would be converting one of middle relievers and see how he fares in a starting role. Seth Lugo has flourished in the pen, but also expressed interest in becoming a starter. Methinks he’s noticed that middle relievers don’t get paid the same as mediocre starters. Pulling him out of the pen which is already weakened through the recovery of Dellin Betances and the possible removal of Michael Wacha would make a highly suspect part of the Mets roster construction even weaker. Furthermore, Lugo’s arm is likely held together with duct tape as it is.
The parallel option would be to see how Robert Gsellman functions in more than an inning or two at a time role. He wouldn’t be missed from the pen as he was on the injured list for a large part of last season, so he can’t be blamed for the dismal performance overall. The problem is the team hasn’t seen good quality on a consistent basis for quite some time, so there’s little to be gained performance-wise asking him to be the 5th starter.
Finally, the club could go in a totally new direction, either promoting AA pitcher David Peterson right to the majors based upon early good results in the aborted Spring of 2020, signing one of the NRI players with some starting experience like Erasmo Ramirez, or even looking outside the organization to obtain a spare part or soon-to-be-released part from another ballclub. That approach would make sense for a perpetually losing franchise, but doesn’t seem to embrace a winning philosophy.
So, how would you go about replacing Noah Syndergaard’s locks and attitude every fifth day?
Thank heavens they got both Wacha and Porcello. What looked like a luxury is now a real necessity.
ReplyDeletePeterson might be OK, and Betances with 3 more months could be well healed, but his caboose has a lot of MLB mileage on it, so pulling Lugo out of the pen seems like a next step only if another of the remaining 5 starters falter.
We always have Corey Oswalt, if we are willing to have an SP 5 whose ERA would most likely be above 5.
First, we need to get a 2020 season underway to take it from theoretical to actual.
Wonder what R.A. Dickey is doing?
Early in the season go with Lockett since he is out of options. See how he does at the same time give Peterson some time in AAA to see how he does. If Lockett looks good in relief for several outings you then try him to start if someone gets injured. If he doesn’t work out. DFA him and either bring up Peterson, Oswalt or Stephen Gonsalves.
ReplyDeleteRaw, very good point and in this pitching poor era, another team would probably grab him. But maybe, instead, Wacha in rotation and Lockett in pen.
ReplyDeleteIt all depends on how guys do in Spring Training II. And also to whether there is a 2020 season at all.
We don't have a "vacancy" in the rotation. Why talk about replacements before we even renew ST?
ReplyDeleteLockett must make the roster (in the pen) or clear waivers to be sent to the minors. Our pen is pretty full.
Gee, I thought the rotation was going to be deGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman, Porcello and one of Matz/Wacha.
ReplyDeleteSyndergaard is GONE for 15 months -- sounds like a vacancy to me.
The question is who should fill it.
5 pitchers, 5 slots. Sounds like a full house to me.
ReplyDeleteSo if you are advocating the use of both Wacha and Matz in the rotation, who is in your bullpen? Now you have a vacancy there if Matz or Wacha moved from a BP role to a SP role.
ReplyDeleteDiaz, Familia, Betances, Lugo, Gsellman, Brach, Lockett, and whoever wins a job in ST.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I forgot Justin Wilson. That gives us an 8-man pen, though if the starters are able to give 6+ IP/start, 7 might be enough.
ReplyDelete