Mets have a starting pitching problem, water is wet, and the sky is blue

The New York Mets starting rotation is in shambles and there’s no easy solution.

In the 2010s, starting pitching was the one thing the New York Mets could rely on. Even in the down years, the rotation was regularly the strength of the team.

This hasn’t been the case in 2020. Outside of Jacob deGrom and the few starts we have seen from David Peterson, this team has been in dire need of some starting pitching help. They didn’t do a thing to address it at the trade deadline. Instead, the very next day we got a poor start from Ariel Jurado and an equally as bad relief appearance from another starter candidate, Franklyn Kilome.

The starting pitching problem facing this organization isn’t limited to the present. The ghost of starting rotations future is far scarier. For as inconsistent as they have been in 2020, at least Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha have a chance to toss a six-inning quality start. We can’t say the same about many of the other men who have started for the Mets this year.

More from Rising Apple

• NY Mets Monday Morning GM: The middle is no place you want to be
• NY Mets News: Marcus Stroman sees “potential fit” with the Angels
• NY Mets were too “seek” and not enough “destroy” last winter
• NY Mets: 1 trade target to consider from each 100-loss team
• NY Mets: Top 12 free agents the team should look to sign this winter

The Mets haven’t had this need for starting pitching help in a while. Last winter, it looked as if one major league arm plus some depth was required. They went out and made sure there would be six different experienced arms plus what little depth they did begin the year with.

Injuries, opt-outs, and bad performances have turned on the team’s hopes for contention. Now several games below .500 and without any answer, the starting rotation has become a pushover.

The starting rotation isn’t the only aspect of the team we can blame for their failures. Several key players are not hitting. The team has no actual closer based on the way Edwin Diaz implodes whenever he’s in that situation.

Starting pitching is, however, the one thing we thought we can count on. Saying the Mets have an issue here is nothing more than stating the obvious. In the offseason, it’s the area they may need to attack more than anything else.

The Mets must sign at least one top-level free agent starting pitcher this winter and trade for another. I say a trade needs to happen because the talent out there isn’t good enough to throw money at this problem. The Mets are going to need to do something they haven’t done much of in the last two years and that’s win a blockbuster trade immediately.

The 2020 season has become an experimental one. Guys are playing more than expected all over the field—starting rotation included.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

The front office might want to deny this is what the year has become. Looking at the standings, the number of starts we have seen from guys outside of the original six, and how much turnover will take place this winter, it’s painstakingly obvious that the 60-game season in 2020 is an extended spring training.