The Mets are planning for a complete, five-man rotation for the first time in five weeks
The Mets are finally past the days of TBA as the starting pitcher. After days of shrugs and “we’ll see” when asked who would start the next game, manager Luis Rojas on Wednesday happily announced the club’s upcoming rotation through the Cincinnati series this weekend.
If all goes according to plan, the Mets will enjoy a complete, five-man rotation for the first time since Joey Lucchesi went on the injured list for Tommy John. It has been five weeks since the club confidently projected it next five starters.
Following rookie Tylor Megill’s seventh start of the year Wednesday, Taijuan Walker on Thursday will wrap up a critical five-game series against the Braves, looking for his first solid start since becoming an All-Star. Carlos Carrasco will officially make his Mets and season debut Friday to open the three-game set against the Reds. Left-hander Rich Hill will take the mound on Saturday and Marcus Stroman will pitch on Sunday.
Stroman is tied with 14 other pitchers for the MLB lead in most starts (21) this season. He is the only member of the Mets Opening Day rotation who has avoided the injured list so far this year. And all those injuries to starting pitchers – including Jacob deGrom, whose last start was on July 7 – have taken a toll on the Mets bullpen.
Mets relievers entered Wednesday with the seventh-best ERA (4.01) in the National League, and the ninth-most innings pitched (356.2). Edwin Diaz and others have helped the bullpen carry the fourth-best strikeouts per nine innings (10) and the fourth-most saves (29) in the NL. Largely, the bullpen has been a welcome surprise and a necessary strength given the injuries to the rotation.
The bullpen has been particularly strong coming out of the All-Star break. The relief corps has posted a 2.17 ERA (12 earned runs/49.2 innings) with 12 walks and 58 strikeouts over its last 10 games.
“Our bullpen has done an incredible job this year,” said Pete Alonso. “Helping us out when we’ve been down some bats, and helping us out when we’ve been down some starting arms. They’ve just done an unbelievable job holding it down.”
WALKER’S INNINGS
Taijuan Walker has looked like a completely different pitcher since the All-Star break, compared to the 13-3 record and 2.50 ERA he posted through 16 starts in the first half of the regular season. In his last two starts against the Pirates and Blue Jays, Walker gave up 11 earned runs in 4.1 innings. He’s also walked six batters in that span.
Walker underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 and has never thrown more than 169 innings in a season. Since returning from TJS in 2019 (but only recording one inning in his lone start for the D-backs that year), Walker bounced back for a terrific 2020 between the Mariners and Blue Jays. Though Walker stayed healthy last year, he’s coming off season in which he pitched just 53 innings in the pandemic-shortened schedule.
The 28-year-old right-hander will enter his 19th start of the year on Thursday with 94.1 innings under his belt, already the most innings he’s recorded since 2017 in his first season with Arizona.
The Mets, aware that Walker is hurling more innings than he has in four years, are handling his workload on a start-by-start basis. The team is depending on the pitcher to be honest about how he feels on a given day. Walker went on the IL in May with left side tightness, but he was shelved for the minimum 10 days and has avoided another injury since.
“It’s really tough to guess, if that’s the word to use here,” Rojas said on how far to push Walker. “I think a lot of people in the league are in the same boat with guys not reaching that number of innings that they used to reach in a normal season.”
PETE LEARNING THE STRINGS
Pete Alonso has recently adopted a new home run celebration as he rounds third base. He extends his left arm in front of him and swings his right arm around in a windmill motion. The first baseman said the idea was the result of his newest pastime.
“I’m learning how to play the guitar right now,” Alonso said. “It’s a fun hobby for me.”
Alonso said the windmill motion in particular was inspired by The Who’s lead guitarist Pete Townshend. Townshend’s trademark windmill motion includes a windup, like Alonso’s now after he home runs, followed by a powerful strike on the chords. The difference is, Alonso’s powerful strike occurs before the windmill celebration. Alonso, who entered Wednesday with a team-high 22 home runs, referred to Townshend as a “rock legend.”
