Reese Kaplan -- Mets Bid a Farewell to Arms

"Step right up, take a ticket to know when you're being called, and be prepared to have all of your medical needs met."

The 2022 season has just begun and there have only been six games played, but already the New York Mets are leading the league in an undesirable category.  The fact is that Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer started the season with injuries.  deGrom, we all know, is a long term healing process and Scherzer looked a little less Cy Young worthy in his first start against the Nationals.

However, then the ambulances started to arrive.  Taijuan Walker began the season recuperating from a knee issue.  Everyone was kind of fearful of what that might mean for his performance and his delivery.  He was a bit uneven in his limited preseason play, but everyone was assured his health was not a problem.

Welcome to Monday night and Mr. Walker gets yanked after just two innings pitched, not due to the knee as feared, but instead with a shoulder issue.  Now it's possible the two circumstances are unrelated, but it's also conceivable that not having 100% faith in the knee to stride as habitually done could have caused Walker to alter his delivery motion and thus subject himself to new strain on his shoulder.  

Things actually started off well for Walker against the Phillies, facing the minimum of six batters in his 2 IP, striking out four of them.  He didn't allow hit nor a walk.  That was all good.  Having experienced some knee pain in the preseason, people were breathing a sigh of relief.

It was then Walker indicated shoulder tenderness.  He's faced this problem multiple times in his career and has had Tommy John surgery already.  He's not exactly been an iron man when it comes to staying on the field, but when he does and he's healthy, he's been a quality pitcher (as witnessed by his 2021 spot on the NL All Star Team).  

Fortunately for the Mets, late arrival David Peterson stepped in out of necessity and hurled four quality innings backing up the injured Walker.  With Tylor Megill already subbing for Jacob deGrom, Peterson now looks to be taking the place of Taijuan Walker until he's deemed capable of handling a normal starting pitcher workload.

Of course, then things got worse when veteran reliever Trevor May was yanked rather quickly into his 1 inning of pitching after giving up a walk, a hit and an earned run.  He experienced what was described as "arm fatigue" which is not a good symptom for a reliever who appears multiple times per week to support the starting staff.  He and Walker are both going for MRIs to determine the extent of their respective injuries.  In May's case, the decision to be cautious is smart since the Mets saw on Monday night what happens when you run through the BP squad (in this case BP standing for Batting Practice and not Bullpen).  

Fortunately Drew Smith has looked very good in the Spring and during his early season appearances.  That quality will be needed, particularly while the club is still missing closer Edwin Diaz.  Peterson was brought up here with an eye towards relief opportunities but now that he's been pushed into a starting role with Walker's injury, the guys warming up after the starter takes the mound are looking rather thin.  

Mets fans are well aware of what it's been like for the club to be decimated by injuries, though it has in the past included both position players and pitchers.  Right now the squad in Syracuse is not exactly chock full of flamethrowers to aid the big club.  Hopefully Billy Eppler can work his magic to fortify the major league pitching staff without necessarily giving up the farm to do so.