Mets first quarter season review

The starting rotation

Remember the article a few years back with the New York Daily News, when John Smoltz said this Mets rotation was “way better” than the rotation he was a member of with the Atlanta Braves? I don’t think Smoltz had Tommy Milone, Adam Wilk, and Rafael Montero in mind when he made that statement.

But looking past the injures, because we’ll get to that later, the Mets starting rotation has to be the biggest disappointment this year.

With a combine ERA of 4.97, the Mets starters haveone of the worst rotation ERA in all of baseball. Let that sink in, the Mets have one of the worst rotation earned run averages in all of the sport. If you would of told me that in April I might have thought you’d never watched baseball before and yet here we are.

To recap some highlights of the Mets’ 2017 pitching staff, first their was the Steven Matz issue, where no one was sure what his injury was. Then there was the Noah Syndergaard drama in which he refused an MRI, only to take the mound a few days later, which resulted in Thor getting stripped of his hammer. And of course, let’s not forget the Matt Harvey episode in which he was suspended for three days for failing to report to a game.

“But hey at least Jacob deGrom and Robert Gsellman are still kicking!” Oh, you’d hope that wouldn’t you. While neither deGrom or Gsellman have missed anytime yet this season, they’ve been less than stellar.

DeGrom who many thought would have to raise his game to a new level in order to keep this Mets’ team competitive, has posted a 3.56 ERA so far this season, but maybe most concerning is that he’s issued 23 walks to this point.

Gsellman hasn’t been any better, with an ERA upwards of 7 at this point. He has been nothing close to what many around the league expected this season.

While it’s been mostly doom and gloom surrounding the Mets starters, I thought I’d point out a real bright spot on the Mets roster. Zack Wheeler, as of right now is the most consistent starter in the rotation. Zack who is returning from a two year absence due to Tommy John surgery, came out of the gates slow, but as of late has given the Mets their most productive innings on the mound.