The Mets simply cannot trust two-thirds of their current six-man rotation, which raises questions for the future, but relegates them to the sobering reality that the majority of their stable of starters is not good enough to contribute in the postseason should they make it.
Luckily for them, rotations shorten in October. But who could have imagined a scenario in which two of their starters to toe the rubber in the playoffs would be 24-year-old Nolan McLean and 22-year-old Jonah Tong, who have four MLB starts combined between the two of them?
Such is life right now in Queens, as the Mets are desperate to salvage a disastrous pitching season by putting together something tangible and consistent.
The first year of Frankie Montas’ two-year reclamation project with the Mets ended with nine appearances, a demotion to the bullpen, a 6.28 ERA, and a season-ending UCL injury in his pitching elbow. Griffin Canning was lost for the season in June after rupturing his Achilles.
Paul Blackburn was a non-factor. He lost his starting job in spring training, suffered multiple injuries, and was DFAd last month. Tylor Megill is working his way back from an injury, but he posted a 5.56 ERA across his last nine starts before hitting the IL.
Clay Holmes is in completely unknown territory, having doubled his previous high in single-season innings pitched. The reliever-turned-starter has a 4.64 ERA in his last 11 starts.
Sean Manaea, last season’s second-half and postseason hero, is still trying to figure it out after he was sidelined until July. Entering his start on Monday night in Detroit against the Tigers, he had a 5.01 ERA and only pitched into the sixth inning once in his first nine outings.
David Peterson, who had been the Mets’ stopper in the second half and their most consistent starter this season, has hit a roadblock of his own. He has a 7.56 ERA across his previous five starts, including Saturday evening, in which he was thumped for eight runs on eight hits with three walks in two innings against the lowly Miami Marlins.
Then there is Kodai Senga, the supposed ace of the rotation who has seemingly lost his elite stuff. After coming off the IL from a hamstring injury on July 11, he has a 5.90 ERA. He lasted just 4.2 innings against the Marlins on Sunday, yielding five runs on seven hits.
It’s gotten so bad that manager Carlos Mendoza did not commit to Senga getting his next start, with another top pitching prospect, Brandon Sproat, continuing to deal in Triple-A.
His predecessors, McLean and Tong, have been a godsend to the Mets, who entered Monday holding a four-game lead over the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League Wild Card spot.
McLean became the first Mets rookie to win his first three career starts, doing so to the tune of a minuscule 0.89 ERA with 21 strikeouts compared to four walks in 20.1 innings pitched. Suddenly, he’s New York’s ace with less than a month to go in the regular season.
“I don’t know what else to say about him,” Mendoza said. “… The way he makes it look, it goes to show you, the kid is special.”
Tong was the only Mets starter to shut down the Marlins, working around porous defense behind him to allow one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts and zero walks. He became the second Mets rookie 22 or younger to go five or more frames with one or fewer earned runs in his debut, joining the legendary Doc Gooden.
Upon his initial call-up, Mendoza implored that his status in the rotation was on a start-by-start basis. After Friday’s showing, his future in the bigs is clear.
“Oh, he’s getting another [start],” Mendoza said. “That’s the plan, but the [six-man rotation] will be fluid.”
As it should be. Sproat just went seven scoreless innings in his Triple-A start on Saturday, allowing three hits with nine strikeouts.
The Youthful Revolution is in full swing. Let’s see how far it carries the Mets.
