Reese Kaplan -- The Very Thin Pitching Staff Is Approaching Anorexic

When the pre-season was alive and well, the glory of the Mets as a team was supposed to be built on the strength of their formidable pitching staff.  After all, not many teams can boast a pair of multi Cy Young Award winning pitchers to start off, the hottest Japanese import at just 30 years of age, the return of Carlos Carrasco who has been far more good than bad in his career, plus the newcomer free agent Jose Quintana who would add a southpaw to a high quality but otherwise all right handed rotation.  

The pen was headed by all-world Edwin Diaz, so when you figured opponents would have that kind of challenge ahead of them, all the hitters had to do was 4-5 runs per game and the Mets would be golden.

Of course, we are all aware of how the floor collapsed underneath this heady set of hurlers.  First came Edwin Diaz with his freak celebratory injury in the ever self-important World Baseball Classic.  Then came the news that Jose Quintana's abdominal discomfort was not the usual muscle strain but turned out to be a tumor requiring surgery which may leave him out most of 2023.  

Justin Verlander was exactly what they had hoped when he signed for Max Scherzer money but then he too faced discomfort and now is projected as an early to mid May arrival as he has not yet even appeared in a rehab game.  

This week's casualty is Carlos Carrasco with elbow pain that has now been identified as bone chips which may or may not lead to an extended absence.  If it is just a matter of rest, it's a question of weeks or maybe a full month.  If he requires surgery, then he's likely done for 2023 as well.

In their place they still have Kodai Senga and Max Scherzer.  Of the former, he's looking like a top quality pitcher but he's accustomed to an every 6th day assignment, so no one knows how he will hold up being asked to pitch every 5th day.  

Max Scherzer's resume and award shelf speak volumes about his future Cooperstown enshrinement, but thus far this season he's looked more like an average pitcher approaching 40 and not the Cy Young capable leader he's proven to be.  Add in his recent banishment for an alleged "suspicious substance" violation which he adamantly denies, the league said no one is going to show up our awful umpires and suspended him for 10 days.  Say hello to Joey Lucchesi. 

After them come David Peterson and Tylor Megill.  Peterson has flashed brilliance some of the time and others games he's been more forgettable (including his last start).  Tylor Megill has a similar output and trajectory.  This week he was surprisingly resilient other than the pair of long balls to J.D. Martinez, offering up 3 runs which otherwise would have gone into the books as a quality start.  

The real mystery for now is how the club is planning to handle the new Carlos Carrasco vacancy in the rotation.  The immediate promotion made from Syracuse was for reliever Jeff Brigham who started off in the minors as a starter but as a major leaguer he's been in the pen having made only 4 starts since 2018.  The thought is that he's here at least temporarily to help support whomever does the first 5 innings of a game.  

Now Jose Butto was called up to start a game for the Mets when they began this west coast odyssey and did better than anyone could have expected.  Not surprisingly, he was sent back to Syracuse to allow Edwin Uceta the opportunity to take a start if needed.  Since becoming a baseball professional at age 18 he's been primarily a starting pitcher so that transaction didn't raise too many eyebrows except perhaps in the Butto household who were likely wondering, "What have I done for you lately?"

Going foward the question now becomes a long term Carrasco solution.  In the minor league ranks it would appear Butto is the next obvious choice.  Uceta as a major leaguer has not been all that impressive, but he is a hard thrower with a 3:1 strikeout to walk ratio good for more than 10 per 9 IP.  

Butto seems to have better control but not quite the same overpowering stuff and given his recent 5 inning performance in which he gave up just 1 run while uncharacteristically walking 4 still would appear to have a notch up on Uceta.  

Another option for the Mets is to take some of the senior pitchers who either are in the system already or easily obtainable through free agency or minor trades with other organizations.  

A lot depends on what the prognosis is for Carrasco and whether the team can muddle through for perhaps a month with Butto or Uceta, or if he's out much longer you are then banking on the trio of Peterson, Megill and Butto to replace Verlander, Quintana and Carrasco.  That makes you flinch a bit which is not as much a knock on the three replacements as it is the career history of the trio on the IL.  

On the good news side, Tommy Hunter is back in a major league Mets uniform from his back spasm IL stint.  Stephen Nogosek is hopefully following in the near future as well.  With those kinds of injuries the Mets have had to offer up innings to some folks who perhaps were not ready for that level of challenge.  There are no relief pitcher stars on the near horizon with minor leaguer Bryce Montes de Oca also gone for rest of this season.  

All we can say now with this unexpected flurry of pitching injuries is, "Batter up!" and hope that the offense can contribute enough to make up for some likely less-than-stellar pitching outings with the reserves pushed into regular appearances.