Forgive me from being a little late to the party, but how about the way you felt when the Mets finally got a big W in the standings column after a dozen straight L’s? When Luke Weaver put on a baserunner with the Mets holding a single run lead due to a timely hit by none other than heretofore dismissed Mark Vientos, I ventured to fellow Mets fan friends in real time that I could foresee a two run homer happening slugged by Byron Buxton. I’ve never been so happy to be so wrong about anything in my entire life.
That being said, we’ve already discussed many of the offensive issues facing the team. Consistent with my prediction prior to the game Juan Soto was inserted as the DH. While no none will moan about missing his suspect defense in left field, the issue was leaving the rest of the outfield open to a less than stellar cast. In this victory the Mets started newcomer Luis Robert, no-offense substitute Tyrone Taylor and over-the-hill and ill-prepared late starter Tommy Pham. That’s not exactly a trio vying for All Star consideration.
Futhermore, the injury bug struck once again with suddenly now hitting Francisco Lindor coming out due to discomfort in his calf. That change necessitated Bo Bichette and his highly suspect glove moving to cover at shortstop and no-offense-provided Brett Baty taking over at third base. We don’t yet know how severe the injury is but they have scheduled an MRI for Lindor and announced the call up of Ronny Mauricio to take his place temporarily while he recovers.
Today, however, it’s time to ponder a bit about the on-again/off-again nature of the pitching performances the club has received. The easy part are the starters. Right now while Freddy Peralta has been better than others though not quite what he was in Milwaukee last year, he’s still on the positive side of the ledger. Nolan McLean is in a way the new Jacob deGrom who pitches his heart out but can’t get the club to score a few runs for him to earn a victory. The other solid arm is Clay Holmes.
After that it gets pretty messy. It’s been announced that in yesterday’s game Christian Scott was being called up from AAA where he’s demonstrated the velocity and composure that made him a top pitching gem before his Tommy John Surgery departure. All are hoping he can be more than a simple one game fill-in.
Leaving the rotation and joining previously banished Sean Manaea in the bullpen is the forever frustrating David Peterson who more often resembles a batting practice pitcher than a dependable starter. At this point no one is clear what exactly his role is out there. It could be to eat innings when a starter turns up incapable of the number of expected frames or it could be as as much of a LOOGY as is still allowed by the new minimum number of batters faced rule.
In addition to this underperforming duo you have the ever questionable outcome expected from import Kodai Senga. We have seen how dominant he can be when he is healthy and moving the ball around the zone to confound hitters. We have also unfortunately seen how bad he can be when things are not working. Being on the books until the end of 2027 the leash on him is likely a bit longer than it would be on someone like Peterson who is in his free agent walk year. Still, you can’t hand over a pitcher allowing well in excess of seven runs per game when you’re club is struggling to provide even two (1.7 runs per game average during the losing streak).
Behind this group you have the sometimes starter from Milwaukee Tobias Myers who did serve as what we now call an opener earlier in the week. He’s been far better than most out there though hardly stellar. He’s more likely long term going to be slated as a long man in the pen and spot starter at best.
Then in the minors you still have Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger. Neither have done enough long term and solid work yet in AAA to consider them confidently as anything but emergency replacements should injuries occur, but in Tong’s case the strikeout capabilities are most definitely there.
In the bullpen there’s the Devin Williams situation. Which Williams will the Mets get? Is he the Yankees version from 2025 or the Brewers version from the rest of his career? Lately he’s looked more like a Bronx Bomb than a Milwaukee Marauder.
The rest of the pen is fungible. While everyone is waiting for AJ Minter to join the mix, you have the up and down record of the streak ending winner, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, Austin Warren, Huascar Brazoban and Craig Kimbrel. Let’s not forget David Peterson and Sean Manaea as well. Who’s to know if Kodai Senga will be joining them?
