Mets need to maximize their rotation

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The first order of business for the Mets needs to be to allow their starters to pitch longer into games. This lingering issue came to a head last Saturday. DeGrom threw seven innings, allowing only two runs on four hits. He was at 96 pitches at the end of the seventh. Mets fans were optimistic that deGrom would trot out to the mound to at least start the eighth inning but Terry Collins put the kibosh on that dream and sent out Fernando Salas instead. This was Salas’s fourth appearance in as many games.

After Salas quickly got the first two outs, he was noticeably out of gas following a four pitch walk. Instead of being pulled, he remained in the game and gave up the lead on back-to-back home runs. Following the conclusion of the game, Terry Collins told reporters that he did not want de Grom to exceed 100 pitches.

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It is understandable that the Mets’ brass is prioritizing the long-term health of their valuable young arms, but the expense of the bullpen should be viewed as a major concern going forward. So far, Mets relievers have logged 37.6 innings. The unit has a collective ERA of 2.32. On the other hand, Mets starters have notched 80.5 innings and sport a 4.18 ERA. Looking further, these starters are averaging 5.75 innings per start while the bullpen averages 2.68 innings.

In order to make sense of these numbers, I took a look at the 2014 world champion San Francisco Giants. Of course, the Giants were built on great pitching and were able to win championships with average offenses at best. In my opinion, a big factor of their success was the preservation of their bullpen.

In other words, Giants starters in 2014 pitched 913.9 innings and averaged 6.16 innings per start. The Giants bullpen threw 279.6 innings and averaged only 1.72 innings per game. This seems to show that the Giants relied on their starters more often than their relievers. And, when called upon, Giants relievers were able to finish the job.

I believe that the Mets can and should rely more on the starters. They are the strength of the team. The mindset of this team should be World Series or bust. I would also say that relief is on the way with the return of Familia, Matz, and possibly Seth Lugo. The return of Matz would allow Robert Gsellman to move to the bullpen where the Mets can feature two long relief options who can also spot start if the team wishes to skip one of the top five.

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Obviously, we are still in the infancy of the 2017 season. However, it is important to take a look at history in order to gauge a team. In our case, most people believe that the Mets can reach the World Series thanks in part to their promising young starting rotation. In order for that happen, in my opinion, the team needs to find the appropriate balance between that rotation and their bullpen.