Mike's Mets - A Very Early Look at the Mets' Pitching

 

By Mike Steffanos

The weather here in Southern New England continues to be typical for this time of year: schizophrenically shifting back and forth between winter and spring. One day I was wearing shorts when I took my dogs for a walk with the temperature around 60. The next, I looked out of my window at about an inch of snow on the ground. While this weather can play havoc with my personal plans, it has no effect whatsoever on the New York Mets' preparation for the 2022 season that is underway down in Port St. Lucie. This weekend, the Mets have made some significant moves to bolster their chances of contending for a playoff spot this season.

There was speculation that the Mets might be interested in a couple of free-agent starting pitchers who came off the board fairly quickly, Carlos Rodón and Yusei Kikuchi. I wasn't surprised that Rodón was able to secure a 2-year deal for $20 million per and an opt-out. I was shocked that Kikuchi got 3 years/$36 million from the Blue Jays. I would have loved to see the Mets pursue Rodón, but I understand that Steve Cohen's large budget for the team wasn't quite infinite. As for Kikuchi, he really didn't seem worth either the years or the dollars to me.

It became clear that adding a significant starting pitcher to the mix would require making a trade. The Mets wound up getting Chris Bassitt, who pitched as the "ace" of the Oakland A's staff last season. He'll slot in as number 3 in the Mets' rotation. I've heard and read a lot of positive takes on Bassit. So far, Keith Law's take in The Athletic was the one negative I've come across.

For myself, I was disappointed that the Mets traded J.T. Ginn, their second-best pitching prospect behind Matt Allan. They've traded away so many of their top prospects in the past few years, and they really need to stop doing that at some point. On the other hand, it was apparent they needed another real major league starting pitching if they were serious about contending for more than a half-season this time around. If Bassit pitches close to the level he has for Oakland since 2019, he could be the Bob Ojeda for this year's rotation. Old-timers like myself remember how Bobby O was the missing piece of the Mets' rotation when he came over before the 1986 season.

As it stands, the Mets starting pitching depth looks like this:

• Jacob deGrom
• Max Scherzer
• Chris Bassitt
• Carlos Carrasco
• Taijuan Walker
• David Peterson
• Tylor Megill
• Trevor Williams
• Jordan Yamamoto

Going 9 deep in legitimate starting pitchers isn't a bad place to start the season. Particularly since there were so many questions surrounding the staff. Jacob deGrom only made 15 starts last year. Scherzer will turn 38 in July and famously had the dead arm issue for the Dodgers in the playoffs last season. Carrasco struggled with injuries and their aftermath throughout 2021 and turns 35 on March 21. Walker wore down in the second half — understandable for a guy who only pitched 59 innings combined from 2018-2020. Peterson made only 15 starts last year due to injuries. The big lefty wasn't effective when he did pitch. Megill had a huge jump in innings last season and really wore down at the end. Williams pitched primarily out of the bullpen after coming over to the Mets from Chicago. Yamamoto struggled with injuries last year and was ineffective when he did pitch. Joey Lucchesi's name isn't on this list, as he is not expected to return from Tommy John surgery until the second half of 2022.

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