1 Mets player making a case to move up the depth chart and into some bigger games

How many players on the New York Mets can we come up with to fit the motif of “if this guy gets hot, watch out!” or something similar? It seems pretty endless. The offense has been generally cold this month with a heavy reliance on their pitching for wins.

Someone who has suddenly begun to surge is Jose Quintana. Tossing 7 shutout innings on Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, it gives him 13.2 scoreless frames this month. After getting skipped over in the rotation following his so-so win against the Chicago White Sox, Quintana has now pieced together a strong stretch of games dating back to August 25.

Over his last 25 innings in those 4 starts, Quintana has allowed a single earned run. Following his brutal August, Quintana looks fully back and ready to give the Mets a dominant conclusion.

Jose Quintana is making a strong case to move up the Mets depth chart and into the circle of trust

Leave it to the old guy, 35, to get it all together late in the year. Following a beat down against the Baltimore Orioles back on August 20, Quintana’s stretch of starts have been unpredictable. It began with 6.1 shutout innings against the San Diego Padres in a game that Edwin Diaz would eventually lose. 

Getting way too far ahead of ourselves, Quintana has spun around his reputation. Dreams of the Mets making the playoffs, as real as they may be, mostly have Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and David Peterson in there as the projected starters for a Wild Card round. Kodai Senga has a possibility as well. That’s a whole different bridge to cross.

In a season where home runs have hurt Quintana a ton, he is on the verge of going a month without surrendering one. This has undoubtedly been the difference maker for him.

Quintana had been an easy player to pass on for the postseason. While some of his recent opponents haven’t been incredibly good teams with wins against the White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, performing so well against the Phillies in Philadelphia is much different.

The Mets have purposefully aligned their rotation to have the best possible options on the mound in the upcoming series versus the Atlanta Braves. Quintana wasn’t included there, but could things change? As Andy Martino suggested, piggybacking Quintana on a Senga start is one concept to explore. Maybe, if he remains this impressive, the thought of doing the opposite makes more sense.