Mets starting rotation threw more shutouts than you would expect in 2002

The mostly forgettable 2002 New York Mets starting rotation somehow managed to have five starters all throw a shutout.

I was recently reading about something completely unrelated to the 2002 New York Mets starting rotation when a few of the numbers caught my eye. Specifically, I saw the name Pedro Astacio and it jogged my memory that he was once with them.

Astacio is one of the more forgettable yet somewhat notable Mets pitchers from this period of time. I think a lot of us tend to focus on the position player busts. Astacio, on the other hand, was a bust from the mound.

I don’t want to dive too deeply into Astacio’s numbers. His league-leading 32 home runs and 16 hit batters are, however, notable. I think they tell a good story as to why the 2002 Mets were an underachieving squad.

More from Rising Apple

• NY Mets: 1 free agent that just shot up the charts as a match
• 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

It wasn’t just Astacio, though. At 12-11, he was actually the only regular starter with a winning record. Despite having an inflated 4.79 ERA, Astacio somehow managed to win more than he lost. Go figure.

The team’s two best pitchers this year were Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel. Leiter went 11-11 with a 3.48 ERA while Trachsel went 11-11 with a 3.37 ERA. Both did a nice job at run prevention. Neither seemed to be rewarded with the number of victories they may have deserved.

Rounding out the rotation, we find Jeff D’Amico and Shawn Estes. D’Amico was 6-10 with a 4.94 ERA this year. Estes went 4-9 with a 4.55 ERA for the season.

There’s nothing particularly noteworthy about any of their individual statistics either. On a sub-.500 team, it’s about what one might expect.

It’s what all five of these pitchers did that I find interesting. In 2002, the Mets had five starters throw a shutout.

This might not get too many old-timers excited. I’m sure it happened plenty more in the Tom Seaver era. In 2002, as complete games were becoming less common already, for the staff to have five men throw shutouts is quite remarkable.

Maybe I’m just easily impressed. But let’s take note of a few things. Jacob deGrom only had one shutout coming into the 2021 season. He added one more, giving him a grand total of just two.

For a pitcher to go the distance and not allow a run makes me feel all gooey inside. It’s especially interesting to see it happen with a group of five men that didn’t have their best season.

For some specific numbers, each starter had one shutout except for Leiter who tossed a pair of them. The only man among them to throw a complete game that wasn’t a shutout was my old buddy, Astacio. He actually pitched two non-shutout complete games for a total of three.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

I’m not sure how many Mets fans could honestly name the five starters from 2002 with 20 starts or more. Whether they can or cannot, there’s no taking away this odd feat.