4 Mets injuries and 1 other event that hurt the team's playoff chances most

4) NY Mets pitcher Max Scherzer getting suspended was the start of a rough patch

A non-injury yet essential event that hurt the Mets was the Max Scherzer suspension. Caught with sticky stuff in a start versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was a moment that cost the team 10 games of seeing Scherzer. When he returned on May 3 as part of a doubleheader, the Detroit Tigers knocked him out of the game after 3.1 innings of work.

Whether or not Scherzer truly was using a foreign substance is up for debate. Dealing strictly with facts and no backstage gossip, he just wasn’t all that good for the Mets this year. The 9-4 record and 4.01 ERA in 19 appearances for New York this year wasn’t nearly enough. Verlander lost a couple of close games. Several of Scherzer’s losses got out of hand and the Mets had no shot at fighting back.

After the April 19 win over the Dodgers where Scherzer was ejected, the team was 12-7. When he returned. They were 16-13 when he came back. The rest of May was two steps forward and another two back. They ended the month 29-27. Then the wheels came off.

The loss of Scherzer to the suspension only meant two fewer starts for him and that doesn’t affect where they are in the standings today. It did seem to throw the Mets off their rhythm, including Scherzer who took another start to be anything like himself again. 

We’ll just have to take a guess as to anything else this suspension may have led to. Whether he was trying to gain an edge or not, Scherzer undoubtedly had to become more cautious as to how much rosin he used rather than face harsher penalties. The Mets were still very much alive by the time he did come back. This last event seemed to be the true killer.