Reese Kaplan -- A Starting Pitcher Who Can Make or Break the Mets

Despite the bad start in Chicago, as the Mets are lately still winning more than they are losing, a lot of the focus has been on the hitting.  Some folks seem to have awakened lately with surprise contributions like Eduardo Escobar, Francisco Alvarez and even Mark Canha.  Still, the offense is in need of a major boost if the club is going to be serious about contending.

Recently the double dip by Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander indicated what the club can do if they get the pitching that had been envisioned all along.  Granted, Tylor Megill is not coming off a great start and Carlos Carrasco is hoping to recover from his first start of the season.

The one player who may be the make or break for the Mets starting rotation is Japanese import Kodai Senga.  We have seen what he is capable of doing when he’s on top of his game and we’ve also experienced wildness that has been a fairly chronic condition.  In his Cubs start he made life difficult for himself by granting free passes that resulted in runs.

However, look at how he handled the edges of the zone in his 5th inning and you can envision that after his North American growing pains are over he can be a magician on the mound.  He threw some of the nastiest sliders I’ve seen in a very long time and if he can get the ball either over the plate or appearing as if it will be in the strike zone, then those bases on balls should tone down while his strikeout numbers rise.

Although he holds a huge place in Mets history though not always in the hearts of the fans, he reminds me somewhat of John Franco.  Hear me out.  Forget the lefty/righty disparity.  What clicked in my head is how Franco got batters out.  He would throw pitches all around the zone but often not across the plate.  The end result was having batters taking bad swings by misjudging the motion of his pitches and this Hall of Fame caliber reliever finished his career with a 2.89 ERA, 424 saves and 90 wins out of the bullpen.  

He threw what I liked to call the illusion of a strike and I can foresee Kodai Senga doing something very similar.  Once he masters getting near the strike zone but not smack down the middle of it then he will be a very dangerous pitcher who hopefully will be a major cog in the Mets rotation for several years.

Envision for a minute what the club would be like with a revamped Kodai Senga, Scherzer, Verlander, the better of either Carrasco or Megill and the disabled but quality pitching Jose Quintana in the starting rotation.  If you were giving up under 4 runs per game from the starting rotation consistently then the suspect offense might just be enough as it is.  

Not to throw a bucket of water on this highlighted cause for celebration, but remember the ages of your top two starting pitchers.  It may be that the club is going to have to reach into its lower minors or free agency or make trades because pitchers at or over 40 are usually not long term options (particularly when they are earning over $40 million each for what might be declining health or ability).