3 biggest Mets winners and 3 biggest losers from the first half of the season

Biggest NY Mets loser: The pitchers in the first inning

The first inning has been atrocious for Mets pitchers. Jose Butto, with only 2 shutout innings, leads the team in ERA but behind him we drop down to Kodai Senga who has a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings. Then we have Tylor Megill at 5.40, Max Scherzer at 5.63, and David Peterson at 5.73.

Justin Verlander has posted a 6.00 ERA in the first inning during the first half and is only trailed among the regulars by Carlos Carrasco at 7.50. Joey Lucchesi with a 9.00 ERA and Denyi Reyes at 27.00 round it out.

It doesn’t take too much analysis to understand this is bad. Paternity tests on Maury require deeper analysis than how dreadful Mets pitchers have been in the first inning.

It’s almost impossible to be a winning ball club when you hand over leads so early. Not helping much either is how the team has hit in the first. Brandon Nimmo is hitting .230 with Jeff McNeil ahead of him at .250.We find Francisco Lindor with a .169 batting average and Pete Alonso all the way down at .086! He has only 3 first inning hits all season long.

A lesson we’ve learned from the 2023 Mets is that if you’re in a rush to get to the ballpark or put the game on, take your time. The first inning will probably destroy the team anyway. This isn’t Oppenheimer. You can watch a Mets game without seeing a bomb go off.