Briefly successful NY Mets free agent signing could use a spray of WD-40 today

It seems like only yesterday the New York Mets had nothing but bragging rights when it came to one of their more surprising free agent additions of the offseason. Despite having plenty of starting pitching options already, the team agreed to a $4.25 million deal with Griffin Canning.

Canning seemed to make it a mission to prove doubters wrong. His first 6 starts of the season had him at 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA. He went into May with those numbers only for a reality check to come his way. A 1-1 May with a 4.09 ERA leveled things off. Through 3 appearances in June, he’s 1-1 with a 5.74 ERA. It would’ve been even worse if not for his 6 shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers that now seems like a whole different pitcher.

Mets pitcher Griffin Canning is squeaking and could badly use a spray of WD-40

Canning’s early season success always came with some questions. He was getting hit hard from the start, not only leading the Mets pitchers in statistics like hard-hit percentage but being among the league leaders. Warning signs were there. Finally, after a 5-walk and 6 earned run performance against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, things are leveling out.

It’s not just getting hit hard doing damage to Canning’s season. Although keeping the ball in the park with a career-best 2.7% home run rate, he’s at a career-worst 11.2% with walks. A groundball rate nearing 50% has saved him from a complete disaster. Still trending toward what could end up as a career year, it’s the recent inconsistency and lack of innings making Canning’s performance squeak even more loudly.

There has yet to be a start this season by Canning where he retired more than 18 batters. Three starts of 6 innings are in a stalemate as his longest. They’ve been scattered with one on April 17, the next on May 11, and the most recent on June 4.

As the Mets face some major rotation questions, Canning hasn’t done his part to ease concerns. A healthy Mets rotation might have had him shifting toward the bullpen. Instead, with Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill both on the IL, Canning has added time to work his way out of his current pace which is one bad outing away from becoming a full-blown slump.

While leading the league with 99 earned runs last year, Canning did show the Los Angeles Angels (and apparently the Mets) how many innings he can eat. Logging 171.2 innings in 31 starts and a relief appearance, he averaged 5.3 innings per appearance. This season he’s at only 4.9 in 14 starts. Needless to say, quality innings are more valuable than quantity.