3/28/24

Paul Articulates – Eat some innings, Jose!

This is a very brief post on opening day for the Mets.  

It focuses on one topic – starting pitchers staying in the game.  Last year one of the biggest factors in the Mets’ disappointing season was that the starting pitchers failed to go deep into ballgames early in the season.  The burden on the bullpen burned them out and made the mid-season a disaster.  

Buck wore himself out with trips to the mound, and the result of using 4-5 relievers was that one would always have a sub-par performance and give up the runs that lost the game.

This year with Kodai Senga on the injured list we have already lost one of our innings eaters as well as a fine pitcher that had very good success last year.  


Next up is Jose Quintana, who was a bright spot last year when he returned by being someone that could regularly pitch in the sixth and maybe seventh inning.  Quintana needs to be a work horse this year, going deep in most of his starts.   With rosters now finalized, the bullpen does not include any names that I would put in the category of “long reliever”.  

That means that for every 4-5 inning start, Carlos Mendoza will need to use several relievers and that will soon lead to some fatigue.  A fatigued bullpen is not your friend.

Here are the inning counts  for the starting pitchers on the Mets roster including the injured Senga:

Kodai Senga:  2023 innings: 166 ; Best year: 180

Jose Quintana: 2023 innings: 75; Best year: 208

Luis Severino: 2023 innings: 89 ; Best year:193

Sean Manaea: 2023 innings: 117; Best year: 179

Adrian Houser: 2023 innings: 111; Best year: 142

Tylor Megill: 2023 innings: 126 ; Best year: 126

Given the still-underperforming bats the Mets displayed in spring training, this team will go as the pitching goes.  The pitching success will be driven in large part by the longevity of the starters.  

C’mon, Jose, eat some innings!!


6 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Jose needs to eat many innings…how about 175…and win in double digits. His 9 total wins over the past 4 seasons shows that may be an optimistic viewpoint.

I see no reason Manaea and Sevy can’t give us 175 each.

I think Megill’s sporker gets his innings per start up by an inning this year.

Senga? 140?

Houser? Time will tell.

Peterson, Butto, and even Joey are eager to grab starts. So are Vasil and Scott.

Well muddle thru. 87 wins. Lets do it.

bill metsiac said...

What effect will the analytics department play in the IP by the starters? Even if a SP is pitching well, if he's thrown a certain number of pitches or gone through the lineup twice, he still may be taken out.

Another factor will be using the 6-man rotation. If all of the current 5 remain when Senga returns, that reduces the share of total innings per pitcher.

If your pizza is cut into 8 slices instead of 6, each slice is smaller, but the pizza is still the same size.

Rds 900. said...

I'm curious to see how Mendoza manages the SPs.

Tom Brennan said...

Bill, I’m running out to get pizza right now. Heading to Mama’s. It’s your fault.

bill metsiac said...

Try Big Italy in Medford! Great stuff.

Rds 900. said...

Recommend Savages Wood-Burning pizza in New Bern.