Reese Kaplan -- Too Many Supporting Relievers are Dumping Gas Instead of Firing It

Early in the 2022 season the Mets were getting it done with a great many contributors supplementing the starting lineup.  Little by little, however, these players either faded away, got injured or were displaced by others producing more effectively.  As recently witnessed the New York Mets are indeed vulnerable right now, though to lay the blame squarely on the heads of folks like Travis Jankowski or Dom Smith is really not fair.

No, the real problem with the Mets right now is not offense nearly as much as it is pitching.  Everyone knows that folks are waiting with bated breath for Jacob deGrom to make his start to this season.  News has filtered out that rehab was successful and Max Scherzer is slated to return to the major league rotation.  Those two developments will have a major impact on the Mets success in the second half of this campaign.

So if starting pitching looks fixable and offense is doing its job, where then do the Mets need to improve the most?  Well, surprise, surprise...they are struggling once again in the bullpen.  

Let's take Edwin Diaz off the table once and for all.  He's doing his job, doing it well, and any team would be glad to have someone of his caliber closing games for them.

However, after that it gets murky in a big hurry.  Trevor May in 2021 was a workhorse, appearing in 68 of the 162 games with a respectable 3.59 ERA in middle relief.  He was striking out well above 1 per inning pitched and finished the season then with a 7-3 record.  

This year, however, was a totally different story.  His health issues negatively affected his dominance and when he went on the IL back when the April calendar turned over to May, everyone hoped it was a quick 15-day type of thing.  Unfortunately he's since been moved to the 60-day list and hoping on his return is blowing likely the most extreme type of longshot.  

Then there's Seth Lugo.  Aside from a brief paternity leave he's been readily available to the club.  For the most part he's been adequate with a 3.68 ERA over 28 games, though his strikeout numbers are down from his career norms and he's giving up a few too many hit.  Fortunately he's only walking 2.1 per 9 IP, so he's getting out of baserunner trouble.  

For awhile it looked as if Drew Smith was going to be the hidden gem everyone always hoped the Mets would find.  He started off the season totally unhittable but then he found mortality and ran into some difficulties.  He's right now still got just a 1.99 ERA but that's a big jump from the zero he was sporting for many weeks.  

He's striking people out an not allowing hits, but his walk numbers are up to 4 per 9 IP and that's never good.

Veteran Adam Ottavino is having a stellar season, better than the Mets likely hoped he would provide.  His ERA is just 2.86 over the course of 31 games with over 11 Ks per 9 IP and a WHIP of just a hair over 1.000.  

Expecting him to maintain that level is probably unrealistic as he's not a developing youngster, but a 36 year old veteran turning 37 around Thanksgiving.  His career mark for ERA is about a run higher -- not bad but not what he's been doing thus far.  

Now is where it starts to get ugly.  Where do we begin -- Joely Rodriguez?  Trevor Williams?  Chasen Shreve?  Adonis Medina?  Tommy Hunter?  These pitchers are here because they were released by their former employers or are merely playing out the string as their careers come to a close.  

That ill-fated trade of Miguel Castro for Joely Rodriguez really hurt earlier in the season when Castro was pitching like a bullpen stalwart, but slowly his ERA crept up to a 3.65 level.  Rodriguez was not great in the beginning but right now he's at 4.76.  The edge on that deal is still in the Bronx.

If Billy Eppler wants to make that deal right and help the club improve towards a post season reality, then he needs to find prime level bullpen talent available from other ballclubs.  It may mean sacrificing prime prospects or bench players who have no permanent role here, but you only have a limited opportunity to make a run for the pennant.  

The upcoming July period when mid season trades take place should be a fascinating one.