As bad as the Mets pitching has been this season, the fact is that several of their former team members who now get paid elsewhere aren't doing a whole lot better. I tease a friend all the time about his desire for the Mets to have reunions with former players to help address their own needs. Well, sometimes a missed reunion is exactly what the doctor ordered.
The clearest mystery of them all is former muscleman with the golden locks, Noah Syndergaard. Thor has been more of a sore than a strength wielding giant for the Dodgers. Currently he owns a 1-4 record with a 6.54 ERA. Ouch!
Everyone is well aware of the kind of job Wheeler has done for the Phillies when he fled Queens for a greener bank account. In 2023 that trend slacked off a bit, pitching to a .500 record with 3.60 ERA. Those numbers still would have looked good for the Mets though perhaps he's not quite worth the $24 million he's being paid to deliver it.
Many people were not aware who Chris Bassitt was when the Mets obtained him for the 2022 season. Save for a final few clunkers he was a great acquisition with a Mets line of 15-9 with a 3.42 ERA. He flew north of the border and signed with Toronto where he's doing well but a tick below his Mets performance. He has a 5-4 record with a 3.80 ERA. At age 34 he wanted a multiyear deal and the Mets decided he was OK to leave to go to the highest bidder. This loss hurt a little bit but won't cause nightmares.
Like Trevor Williams, Lugo always wanted to be a starting pitcher. For the Mets he was far more valuable in the pen than in the rotation, so he hit the road and earned an opportunity with the San Diego Padres. The now 33 year old would-be starter is delivering .500 performance with an ERA north of 4.00 when healthy. Unfortunately he's on the IL right now so he wouldn't have been much help to the Mets.
After leaving the Mets following the end of the 2021 season where he gave the Mets a 3.02 ERA over 33 starts, he fled to the city of Mrs. O'Leary's cow where he continued pitching well. Right now fans are well aware of his antics after having just faced him and they are also cognizant of his 2.59 ERA which would sure look wonderful in the Mets rotation today. He's healthy and available to pitch every 5th day. Despite being a less-than-optimal teammate, the fact is the little guy knows how to pitch and he would have been terrific in the rotation this year.
After bouncing between the pen and the starting rotation for the Mets for a few years, the talented Williams wanted to start full time and earned that right with the Washington Nationals. Unfortunately, though the quality has been pretty decent at a 3.93 ERA, the record is on the wrong side of .500 given the sporadic offensive support he receives from his teammates. He certainly wouldn't have cost much to keep here though the Mets on day one did not appear to have the starting rotation vacancy he was seeking.
After going 12-5 with a 3.49 ERA last season the enigmatic righty took to free agency and earned a berth with the Philadelphia Phillies. While his 4-2 record on paper over 11 starts looks quite good, the 5.57 ERA accompanying it does not. No one is shedding tears he is gone and it appears he would not have been much help.
Nothing lately has hurt nearly as much as the decision made by Jacob deGrom to get paid in free agency to approach what former teammate Max Scherzer was getting to throw the ball. The Texas Rangers made him a significant offer and he headed south with his inability to stay on the mound for many innings. That trend has continued. He's made just 6 starts for Texas pitching like himself with a 2.67 ERA and striking out over 14 per 9 innings pitched, but unsurprisingly he's on the injured list once again. As much as the Mets have struggled, deGrom likely would have been a poor long term investment.
After a solid stint pitching for the Mets a few years back in what folks thought was the tail end of the big lefty's career, he's moved onto two more seasons during which he's not been horrible but not great either. Currently as he continues hurling at age 43 he gets paid by the Pirates to go 4-5 with a 4.76 ERA.
Oft injured southpaw Matz put together some quality starts during his Mets campaign but his fragility and inconsistency made him a not too painful loss in free agency. The St. Louis Cardinals bit on his talents and it has not been pretty. After doing a 5.21 ERA in his Redbirds rookie season he's followed it up with a winless record and 5.60 in 2023. And I was worried when I saw him in a Spring Training photo shark fishing!
After pitching horribly for the Mets back in COVID-shortened 2020, Wacha followed it up with more poor work for his next employer, the Tampa Bay Rays. He improved significantly for the Boston Red Sox in 2022, then moved onto the Padres for this current season where he's pitching at star quality over 10 starts with a 5-1 record and a 3.45 ERA. Though that performance would certainly have helped, no one had Wacha even on their list let alone at the top of it.
As of early June Flexen is still getting paid to throw a baseball, now by the Seattle Mariners. He's had six starts in 2023 and has turned in an 0-4 record with a 6.21 ERA. He doesn't appear to be someone who would cure what ails the Mets starting pitching.
So when all is said and done, this passel of pitching prowess only includes a sure loss in Marcus Stroman, a sentimental loss in Jacob deGrom and a shocking loss in Michael Wacha. The rest consist of maybe helping, maybe not or outright dodging bullets.
6 comments:
Not a lot of quality there, aside from the Little Stroman, Zack, and the surprising Wacha, who is a stunning 16-3 the past two years. I wish Trevor Williams was still a Met.
boy that's a lot of spicy meatballs
Maybe Jeremy Hefner is not the problem after all.
It's interesting that within the past week, we've faced two of our exes (Stro and Walker) and face a third tonight (Bassitt).
We're 1-1 vs the 1st 2, so tonight is kind of a "rubber" game.
Thanks for doing all that research. Those are such familiar names who we rooted for all those years. Just like impatient Mets fans to wish them away only to wish they were back when there's a hole. Overall though it looks like they have performed as expected. Stroman was always hugely competitive to the point of combative. He's great to have on your team, but you dislike him if he's on the other team.
Thanks, Paul. It was an interesting bit of scouring the stat sheets and enlightening to discover how few who have left actually did well.
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