3 early season red flags the Mets are still trying to overcome

2) Red Flag: The Mets bullpen was getting taxed in the first weeks of the season

Consider this red flag a two-sided one. The Mets starting pitchers were performing well in the first few weeks but that might be because they weren’t pushed too deeply. As a result, the bullpen was heavily taxed. The relievers did hold up their end of the bargain, but in May we began to see the result. The relief corps is now in shambles and getting pushed a little too much in those early weeks is one of the reasons.

In all fairness to the relievers, the starting pitching hasn’t been exceptional either. Luis Severino and Sean Manaea recently saw their ERAs bump up over 3.50—a watermark number between good and excellent. Severino’s excellent 8-inning performance against the Washington Nationals dropped it down again with a reminder of how brilliant he can be at times. 

However, Jose Quintana remains untrustworthy with Tylor Megill and David Peterson continuing to establish which versions of themselves will show up for 2024. It has been good so far.

Some of the best starts the Mets have gotten this year came from Jose Butto and Christian Scott, neither of whom is on the roster right now. We’ve already seen Adrian Houser bumped from the rotation. Quintana is clearly the next one who needs to be, but is there even room in the bullpen for him?

The offense has been putrid but it’s the pitching staff that has let us down most of late. There is no real number one starter. We await the season debut of Kodai Senga all while hoping he doesn’t follow the same direction as his pitching teammates.