Reese Kaplan -- Small Stuff Both Good And Bad for Mets

It wouldn’t be the Mets if not for a strong performer dropping with injury.  This time it’s the surprising Joey Lucchesi who is on the IL after a string of five straight impressive starts.  The issue is who will replace him.  The scuttlebutt is that Robert Gsellman will get the rotation opening, but that revelation doesn’t exactly fill anyone with confidence.  Unfortunately most feel Tylor Megill is not yet versed enough at the AAA level to make the jump temporarily and Thomas Szapucki seems to have forgotten whatever it was he had that made him a formidable hurler in the minors between his time lost to injury.  The only other option -- Jerad Eickhoff -- is indeed 5-1 in the minors for Syracuse but is pitching to an ugly 5.32 ERA and has given up more hits than innings pitched.  The Mets promoted him on Sunday for unknown reasons. Some feel Gsellman is the lesser of several evils.  

The Mets found a trade partner north of the border, sending Jacob Barnes to Toronto in exchange for minor league pitcher Troy Miller.  Losing Barnes won’t cause any anxiety nor heartache among Mets fans as he was not particularly effective.  Gaining Miller is likely not going to accomplish much.  Miller has toiled in the Blue Jays farm system since 2018, missing all of 2020.  His record is 9-10 with a 4.72 ERA over 28 starts in 39 games.  The stat that jumps off the page (and not in a good way) is his 75 walks vs. 150 strikeouts.  Ugh!

There is no real help on the immediate horizon with rehabbing starting pitchers either.  Jordan Yamamoto is on the 60 day IL.  Noah Syndergaard has been shut down for six more weeks.  Tommy Hunter was a starter earlier in his career but has reshaped into a 60-day IL relief pitcher.  Carlos Carrasco was just cleared to begin throwing so it will take some time for him to get to his Mets debut at the Major League level. 

  

On the positive side of things, Jeff McNeil and Jacob deGrom both claim they will be ready to play on Monday.  The McNeil thing is probably a bit less concerning as he has gone through normal minor league rehab before returning.  For deGrom, however, his latest prompt removal from a game is highly concerning to fans and the front office, though he claims the soreness was due to batting rather than throwing.  deGrom has been just as effective as a hitter this year as he has while pitching, but they had better instruct him not to put so much effort into his swings if they are triggering pain afterwards.

In the interim, all Mets fans can do is sweat the small stuff while awaiting the return of the big boys from injury isolation.  The truth is that they’re still in first place making do with a variety of substitute players that were not on anyone’s radar when the season began.  For once as a fan I keep thinking how things can improve over where they already are (and that’s a good thing indeed).