NY Mets: 1 pitcher meeting, 1 exceeding, 1 short on expectations
The New York Mets pitching staff has had a few different iterations this season. Early on, things were excellent. Starting pitching carried them and the bullpen was able to shut the door.
Eventually, injuries began to catch up with just about everyone. Even those who managed to stay off the IL saw their career years evaporate. Overall, the pitching staff has been a strong point of the club.
Not everyone has done what was expected of them. Jacob deGrom, for example, was well on his way to having a legendary season until his body had other plans. He didn’t make this list of one Mets pitcher to meet, exceed, or come up short on expectations merely because I’m not quite sure how to rate his season quite yet. Maybe when the season is over he’ll earn a spot on a future version of this list. For now, these are the three Mets pitchers who have met, exceeded, and come up short on expectations.
Marcus Stroman has met the lofty expectations we had for him
Marcus Stroman has had a very strange year. He has been everything from excellent to average and yet it doesn’t show in his record. It’ll be a real battle for him to finish with a .500 record or better and he may do so with an ERA below 3.00.
After Stroman talked a big game all offseason, he has done plenty to back it up. Although he might not have Cy Young numbers, Stroman has certainly been the number two starter we asked him to be.
In fact, you could probably say Stroman has even exceeded expectations. Faulty at times, I feel the need to rank him closer to just meeting expectations rather than passing them.
Whichever you prefer, Stroman has been brilliant for the Mets this year.
No Mets pitcher has exceeded expectations more than Aaron Loup
Who saw this coming from Aaron Loup? If you predicted he’d be one of the best left-handed relievers in the game, you need to share this week’s lottery numbers with me pronto.
Loup has been more than the lefty reliever Luis Rojas could turn to face fellow southpaws. A brilliant season at preventing runs, his debut season with the Mets could go down as one of the greatest from a reliever in franchise history.
When the club signed Loup in the offseason, I didn’t expect him to be one of the aces in the bullpen. Behind Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, and Seth Lugo, his major innings would come earlier on when a string of lefties were to step up to the plate. Rojas hasn’t used Loup in any unexpected fashion. However, when called upon to get outs, nobody on this staff (outside of deGrom) has been more effective.
I know non-closer relief pitchers are often overlooked in the grand scheme of things. Mets fans do appreciate what Loup has done this year. He has been so near-automatic for the club that it’s easy to sometimes forget he even exists.
Loup was an easy selection as the Mets pitcher who has exceeded expectations. While other guys have done so as well (shout out to Tylor Megill and Drew Smith), nobody has accomplished more than Loup.
David Peterson did not have the year we anticipated
Originally, I was going to write about Taijuan Walker in the second half. That seemed like a cop-out. He has a chance to turn things around much more easily than a man who probably won’t pitch again this year: David Peterson.
Following up on an awesome rookie year in 2020, Peterson made 15 starts for the Mets this year. It was a reverse of what we saw from him last year. Peterson was 2-6 with a 5.54 ERA. Many expected far more from the young southpaw starter. Instead, he became a complete afterthought.
A couple of Mets pitchers have failed to meet expectations. Edwin Diaz’s misses have been huge and I’m not so sure too many people are overly joyed with Seth Lugo’s performance. The lengthy disappearing act from Carlos Carrasco also made him a viable contender, but I’m not ready to judge him off of an injury.
Peterson got a full half-season in the books and without very good results at all. I’m interested to see what the Mets plan to do with him moving forward. Does he get a shot to compete for a rotation spot in 2021 (he should) and can he win one (I’m not so sure he can).
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Through some good and bad, Mets pitchers have both helped and hurt the team. A lot of them met or exceeded our expectations while some, due to in part to injury, come up short.