Tom Brennan - Pitching Dreams vs. Reality

I thought some of our 2023 pitchers might replicate Tom Terrific 

- but "Tom Szapucki" has been more like it

Man, as the calendar switched from January to February 1st, I dunno about you, but I was excited about our pitchers.

I thought Max and Justin would dazzle.

I expected Edwin Diaz to repeat as Reliever of the Year.

I expected Carrasco to win 12-14 games.

I thought the Ghost would rock the baseball world.

I thought Jose Quintana, backed by a solid offense and fine pen, would win 12-14 games also.

I thought Megill and Peterson would slug it out as two heavyweights.

I thought Bryce Montes de Oca would quiet the naysayers and be a bullpen animal.

Instead, thru the first 3rd of the season:

Edwin took 2023 off.  So has Montes de Oca.  So far, so has Quintana.

Max and Justin have just 71 combined innings and 6 combined wins.

Carrasco just won his first game.

The Ghost has floated into bases on balls far too often in an otherwise decent season start.

Megill may be 5-3, but his 1.59 WHIP smells a lot like late stage Mike Pelfrey.

Peterson has an 8.08 ERA in 8 starts (Crazy 8s) and a 1-6 record.  And some really nice digs in Syracuse, where he has been passable but wild.

I never expected the Mets starters to have a combined 5.13 ERA.  

I figured somewhere between 3 and 4 runs per 9.  

Meanwhile, Eric Orze was a guy who I thought would be in the Mets pen by now - not having a 7.71 ERA and a 1.71 WHIP in Syracuse.

And I thought two possible Mets pen guys from AAA by mid-season might be Tony Dibrell and Dedniel Nunez. Instead the duo in Syracuse have walked 39 in 42 innings chock-filled with 42 runs, mostly on the scorecard of Tony the Tiger, not from 15 walks in 13 innings Dedniel.  Tigers are an endangered species.

I also thought Jose Butto would do all right, not have 6 AAA starts and a bloated 7.30 ERA, getting his Butto kicked way too often.

Joey Lucchesi has done OK for the Mets and is 3-0, 1.95 in Syracuse, so at least I was right about him.

I was so wrong on so much.  Heck, I thought Matt Allan might pitch in the minors this year.  Boy, was I deluded.  Calvin Ziegler would be a rising stud. instead of zero 2023 innings. 

And my "wrong" was Bad Wrong, not Good Wrong, unfortunately.

I wish I could have said, "gee, I was expecting the starters to have a 5.13 ERA the first 3rd of the season, but got a 3.00 instead!"

Question: 

Can Francisco Alvarez pitch, too?  

He can be our Shohei.