It's getting down to crunch time for roster decisions. We're looking at which 26 players will break camp with the New York Mets, beginning with the pitching staff.
It seems like spring training just started, but we're only a week and a half away from Opening Day in Miami. The Mets must decide which players begin the year on the 26-man active roster. They have some really tough decisions to make.
The Mets can carry a maximum of 13 pitchers on the roster. With 8 games in 8 days to kick things off — all in domed stadiums with no chance of rainouts — it feels like a safe bet that the club will elect to carry a full load of 13 pitchers. My assumption is that they will begin with 5 starters and 8 relievers. Even if they decide to use a 6-man rotation to start the year, that sixth starter will be added when needed. The 5 starting pitchers seem pretty settled at this point, barring another injury (your author performs several superstitious rituals here to ward off bad luck).
Starters (5)
Kodai Senga (Remember, folks, it's not a real ghost)
The first 4 are really a lock. I think Peterson had a leg up on Tylor Megill going into Sunday's exhibition game against St. Louis. Peterson has established himself more as a Major League starter. David competes well, even if he sometimes walks too many batters. It was telling that Peterson had the start Sunday while Megill was penciled in for 4 innings of relief. Then Tylor didn't help himself with a rather poor performance, even if he was betrayed by his defense a bit. Both of those guys get their share of starts, health permitting (more superstitious rituals performed), but I believe David gets the initial nod out of the gate.
My only concerns with Scherzer and Verlander are health-related (insert more superstitious rituals here) and that they can stay ahead of Father Time for at least one more season. As for Senga, we won't know exactly what to expect until we see him compete in real regular-season games.
But my biggest worry is about Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco was pretty good for the Mets in the first half last season — a Godsend, considering all the injuries they were dealing with — but he really struggled over the last couple of months. Carrasco spent some time on the IL in mid-August with a low-grade left oblique strain. After his return, opponents batted .286/.339/.438 against Carlos. And this included starts against Miami and Pittsburgh where Carrasco was able to dominate inferior opponents. His last 3 starts for the Mets, against Milwaukee, the Marlins again, and the Nationals were all pretty bad. I wonder if the Mets made it further into the playoffs if they would have used Carrasco as the fourth starter or chosen someone else.
Bottom line, I worry that Carlos Carrasco may lose the battle against Father Time this season. I think his stuff has deteriorated to the point where he needs to execute perfectly to compete against MLB hitters, especially the top lineups. If he's off a bit, it's not going to be pretty. If you've been a Mets fan for a long time, the analog I fear would be Steve Trachsel in 2005. With José Quintana out until the All-Star break, I really hope my concerns about Carrasco prove to be unfounded.
2 comments:
Brigham was an interesting pick.
It definitely won't be Chacon
My pick - Muchenwhatever
Interesting pick, Mack
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