Ranking 4 candidates to replace Adrian Houser in the rotation if his struggles continue

Adrian Houser has been one of the worst players on the New York Mets this season. It hasn’t been the result of bad luck, poor support, or any other excuse. When you walk more batters than you strike out, you’re the problem.

Fans are already prepared to move on from Houser in any capacity they can. The likeliest outcome is for him to first be replaced in the starting rotation. It looks like he’ll get at least one more opportunity to start for the Mets, especially with their lack of scheduled off-days coming up.

However, the Mets need to be proactive at making a change in the rotation if they want to avoid the spot in the rotation becoming an automatic loss. Armed with several options, this is how they rank in terms of the likeliness we see them.

4) The Seductive Prospect: Christian Scott

In last place of the four is Christian Scott. It’s nothing personal against him. In fact, this is the choice just about every Mets fan would pick. It’s not practical, though. Scott isn’t a member of the 40-man roster and with so many other more experienced starting pitcher choices for the team to summon first, Scott is more of a later season option.

Scott has made 5 starts for Syracuse and come away with a 3-0 record and 3.20 ERA. In those 25.1 innings of work, he has most notably struck out 36 batters. The WHIP is fantastic at 0.71 and the walk rate is at a very acceptable 2.1 per 9. The only negative is he has already surrendered 6 home runs. The concern here is that when he jumps to the big leagues the 2.5 per 9 rate of home runs allowed could explode.

Scott will have his place with the Mets at some point this season. Later on, even if others are healthy, he can differentiate himself. A spot start for Scott in the major leagues this year doesn’t feel all too necessary when he has some things to work on in the minor leagues anyway. Perhaps if the Mets get to the point where they are done with Houser completely, Scott could be someone to replace him in more than the rotation. Cutting Houser from the roster would be the move that gets him there.

3) The Last Chance Candidate: David Peterson

David Peterson’s rehab has begun. The lefty who feels to be “on” one year and “off” the next will soon embark on a very important season for his future in New York. Peterson has one minor league option remaining and it’s very likely to get used even before he officially comes off the IL. In fact, a big reason why he falls to number three on this list is because it makes a lot of sense for the Mets to build him back up slowly and allow him a couple of starts in the minors before throwing him to the wolves.

If you’re a fan who feels “kind of done” with Peterson, no one will blame you. His start at the beginning of 2023 helped put the Mets in an early hole they couldn’t climb out of. The overall totals were still bad even with a solid second-half.

In parts of four big league seasons, Peterson is now 18-21 with a 4.51 ERA. The 90 ERA+ suggests he has been a below average pitcher. Even in 2022 when he was used effectively as a spot starter and reliever, Peterson had difficulty throwing strikes at times. His “on” or “off” was present while he battled against Trevor Williams for those coveted extra starts the Mets had available.

There is very little chance Peterson will be on the Mets roster after 2024 because they’d no longer be able to bounce him back and forth between the minor leagues. He’ll be useful this season. If Houser gets bumped off sooner than later, it would make much more sense to turn to this other southpaw.

2) The Question Mark: Joey Lucchesi

Unbelievably, Joey Lucchesi has only about 50 more MLB innings than Peterson does at this point. Missing all of 2022 and pitching only sparingly since coming to the Mets will do that. As well as we know his name and think we’ve grown familiar, Lucchesi has mustered just 85 innings with New York. He had 299.1 with the San Diego Padres.

Lucchesi remains a bit of a question mark. He successfully rattled off 9 starts with the team last season, finishing 4-0 with a 2.89 ERA. A poor strikeout rate and a somewhat high walk total in those limited opportunities never gave him much of a chance to prove himself this spring. He got knocked around in his audition and has been in the minors ever since.

This year’s numbers with Syracuse are good, but not great or overpowering. At 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA after 5 starts, we can see his continued success at preventing runs. However, with just a strikeout rate of 6.9 per 9 innings and a walk total of 4.5 per 9, Lucchesi looks potentially disastrous one level up.

The best argument for Lucchesi over these other guys is experience. He has also been fully stretched out and healthy this year. It’s like dropping Rambo behind enemy lines to rescue someone. This Rambo, however, only has a couple of sharp forks to defend himself. Lucchesi feels like more of a temporary option if he was to ever replace Houser in the rotation.