Mike's Mets - Creating the Next Generation of Mets' Pitchers

 

By Mike Steffanos

The free agent pitching market is expensive and unpredictable. The solution is for the Mets to get back to producing more of their own pitching talent. What will that take?

I've been rooting for the New York Mets for over 50 years. Although the Mets have developed some excellent position players over the years, this is an organization that, by far, is known for developing some great starting pitchers. However, the current edition of the Mets had to stock up their rotation on the free agent market. It was quite expensive and, at least up to now, a huge fail. As the dreadful 2023 season has shifted our focus to the future, we ponder how the Mets can develop some of their in-house arms into effective Major League hurlers and reduce dependence on the pricey free agent marketplace.

The top in-house starters, Tylor Megill and David Peterson, have face-planted this season in an ugly fashion. Megill earned a ticket to Syracuse with a 5.17 ERA and an unsightly 1.67 WHIP. Honestly, after watching many of Tylor's outings, he has been lucky not to have allowed many more runs. Meanwhile, Peterson has been equally as bad and more unlucky, posting a 6.61 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. David was much better in his last two outings, limiting the Giants to a run in 4 innings after holding the Brewers scoreless over 6 innings. Still, I certainly won't have to fight off any feelings of overconfidence when he takes the mound again. Peterson issued 3 walks in his 4 innings against San Francisco after walking 3 in that outing against Milwaukee, and he was averaging 5.6 BB/9 in Syracuse. Clearly, the leftie's control issues have yet to be fixed.

That Peterson is even getting a chance to pitch in the majors again after earning his own demotion to Syracuse reflects the Mets' inability to develop other homegrown options. José Butto is on the 40-man roster and has pitched for the Mets this season, including a pair of emergency starts. Butto has been awful in Syracuse, however, with a 6.15 ERA in 10 starts. He has allowed 9.7 H/9, 5.2 BB/9, and 1.6 HR/9. Prospect Mike Vasil has been touted as a pitcher who might debut for the Mets this season. While Vasil has indeed impressed, he has scuffled in his first three starts since earning a promotion to Syracuse. I'm sure the Mets would like to see him settle in there before considering a promotion to MLB.

During his press conference this week, Steve Cohen bemoaned the Mets' inability to develop pitchers. As quoted by the Post's Mike Puma:

"We haven't developed any pitching, which is actually pretty shocking," Cohen said. "We're certainly capable of doing it. We may not have had the right infrastructure in place [in the past]."

Cohen alluded to the pitching lab the Mets have opened, noting that more progressive teams have had their own lab for years. It's part of the infrastructure upgrades the Mets have made since Cohen purchased the team. The Mets pitching development should benefit from this lab, but it won't happen overnight. And there's nothing magical about having a pitching lab. It certainly hasn't helped Megill and Peterson right their respective ships this season. But having the right technology in place and, equally important, having the right development people to correctly utilize this technology, still bodes well for the Mets' future in turning promising arms into big league pitchers.

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