Former Mets pitcher has turned it around after a rough start to 2023

It seemed like only yesterday we were breathing a sigh of relief when it came to Chris Bassitt. He left this offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays and the former New York Mets pitcher was shelled in his debut.

The April 2 start might have been a late April Fool’s Day gag. It was the St. Louis Cardinals who beat him. Bassitt gave up 9 earned runs in 3.1 innings of work. Included were 4 home runs and not a single strike out.

Fast-forward to today and Bassitt is coming off of two straight wins where he didn’t allow a run. He tossed 7 shutout frames against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Most recently, Bassitt went all 9 in a shutout versus the Atlanta Braves.

Former NY Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt is suddenly looking like the guy we had last year

Bassitt was a workhorse for the Mets in 2022. His 181.2 innings of work is something we’d dream about getting from any of the starters this season. Now 5-2 with a 3.49 ERA on the year, Bassitt is slowly inching his way back to the stud he has been regularly since becoming a full-time starter in MLB.

Not all of the starters the Mets let leave have fared as well. Taijuan Walker is 3-2 with a 5.75 ERA in his 8 starts for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jacob deGrom, in 6 starts for the Texas Rangers, is 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA. He is, of course, now on the IL.

The Mets pretty much swapped deGrom for Justin Verlander and the comparisons will continue all year. Bassitt and Walker were interchanged with Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana. Senga has been solid for the Mets while Quintana will remain on the IL for a few more months.

Every offseason has its hits and misses. Letting Bassitt go is becoming one of those errors.

The Mets starting rotation has struggled to go deep into games this year. Unfortunately, Quintana and Senga aren’t guys we should expect to get too familiar with even the seventh inning.