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Our pitching sucks

Johnny Lunchbucket May 28 2023 06:29 PM

That's pretty much the whole story of this season. We talk a lot about the hitting and it's been inconsistent, but what sucks is the pitching. Megill -- sucks Peterson -- sucks Senga-- ok Scherzer-- cheats but ok Verlander -- sucks Carrasco-- sucks Bullpen -- sucks with a few exceptions Our pitching sucks.

Frayed Knot May 28 2023 07:16 PM Re: Our pitching sucks

You're acting as if most walks + most HRs allowed is a bad thing.

Edgy MD May 28 2023 08:06 PM Re: Our pitching sucks

I tend to think the (1) the numbers will come around, as attrition catches up with everybody else, and (2) it's a rough time to draw conclusions, coming out of Denver. That probably won't mean dramatic improvement, so much as perhaps enough regression toward the mean to give the offense more opportunity to win some games. This has already begun, I think. The tough part is that there is no ace in the hole — no game-changer expected to return from injury and be a force — and no impact pitchers expected to join the roster from the minors. (Syracuse's starting pitching has been much, much worse.) Hopes go to (1) Scherzer and Verlander being somewhat closer to their old selves than their recent selves, (2) Quintana joining the team and, if not necessarily becoming anybody's idea of a stopper, at least taking innings from lesser options, and maybe (3) getting at least one non-self-saboutaging figure from the Megill/Peterson/Lucchesi/Butto contingent. Some of that has to happen, right? The team is 4 1/2 games out of first in May, with an improving offense, so it doesn't all have to happen. One? Maybe one of those things can happen? I can work with one.

whippoorwill May 29 2023 06:04 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

I agree with Johnny. What happened to us? The Mets were always pitching proud if nothing else. I know I prattle on endlessly about how pitchers are babied these days but I have to wonder if it's truly making pitching a weaker position overall

metirish May 29 2023 06:10 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

Yeah I tend to agree, overall a flawed team, boring to watch for the most part

nymr83 May 29 2023 07:06 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

Verlander has allowed 27 hits and only 6 walks in 30 innings, but carries a 4.5 ERA - that seems like bad luck and he should be more in line for an ERA in the 3's

Centerfield May 29 2023 07:42 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

I saw that too. WHIP in line with career totals but ERA is high. I guess also giving up the long ball hurts. To Edgy's point, it's not one guys. It's that they're all underperforming. Some of them disastrously so.

Edgy MD May 29 2023 07:45 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

They all indeed are. At least, all the starters are.

MFS62 May 29 2023 09:15 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

A brief, but accurate, description. Later

smg58 May 29 2023 09:51 AM Re: Our pitching sucks Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 29 2023 10:48 AM

The GM and manager have showed more confidence, at least until recently, in the back of the bullpen than they have in Francisco Alvarez. And that has cost us games. In order for Verlander and Scherzer to justify their salaries, they had to combine for 11 WAR over the season. A third of the way in, Fangraphs has them combining for 0.8 WAR. Eppler probably thought going in that the presence of Diaz obviated the need to invest in the back of the pen. But I think that underscores the flaw in his strategy. You have three guys who categorically HAVE to be elite for the entire season to justify their salaries. One of them likely won't even pitch an inning for us this year. And the other two are old. Basically there are no such things as safe bets where pitchers are concerned right now, and we are invested in some pitchers to the point that we can't afford them to be ordinary, much less miss any time. It was a reasonable expectation that Peterson and Megill would be able to step in and keep us in games, given they did that for us last year. It hasn't happened. Every team needs that depth and we thought we had it, but we don't. I looked at Quintana and saw a guy who returned to his best form by dialing down the mph, and I though he'd be as safe a bet as anybody. Guessing right on pitching is a very inexact science. So what to do? Well, we're kind of committed to Scherzer and Verlander, so hopefully they give us something close to what we paid for the rest of the way. Senga is still an unknown commodity, but hopefully he'll improve as he gets more familiar with the league. Carrasco was good last outing and the track record is there, but I've stopped holding my breath. The state of the bullpen is not acceptable. The good news is that we have some major league resources that are moveable due to our younger players. Narvaez will be more valuable to another team than he is to us. A team in a hitters' park that needs a 3B might take a flyer on Escobar. Canha or Marte might be dealable too. But who has pitching to spare?

Frayed Knot May 29 2023 10:21 AM Re: Our pitching sucks

=nymr83 post_id=126886 time=1685365598 user_id=54] Verlander has allowed 27 hits and only 6 walks in 30 innings, but carries a 4.5 ERA - that seems like bad luck and he should be more in line for an ERA in the 3's

It's too small a sample size to draw any conclusions from, but he's been 'bunching' his suckitude.

Give up one hit/inning and you can get a CG shutout.

But pitch 4 hitless frames but then give up 5 hits in another and you an get an early shower and some ugly stats even with similar WHIP numbers.

.JV has been more the latter guy than the former except for the one terrific game he had.