Mets Scapegoats: 1 player who’s cooked, 1 who isn’t, 1 still on the grill

There is no better time than the last week of July to go outside and smoke up some meats—or however it is cool people phrase barbecuing. Some of us wouldn’t know what cool was if it untucked our pants from our socks. We spend far too much time focusing on what the New York Mets are doing to ever know proper BBQ vernacular.

On the topic of BBQs, in honor of the pulled pork I cannot wait to eat before July is over, let’s check in on some of the Mets scapegoats this season who’ve taken plenty of blame but do it in a different way. One of them is completely cooked. Another is raw with something left to give. Meanwhile, a third is still on the grill yet to decide if he’s done having something special to offer.

1) Cooked NY Mets scapegoat: Carlos Carrasco

There isn’t a starting pitcher on the Mets roster more cooked than Cookie Carrasco. It’s in his nickname for crying out loud. Throughout his Mets tenure, Carrasco has teetered on looking like a number three or four rotation arm. A start later he looks like a DFA candidate.

It’s not exactly a shock to see Carrasco pitch this poorly. We saw him perform even worse in 2021. The success in 2022 made him a more realistic option for the 2023 rotation. The Mets picked up his option and went forward with the veteran righty, hoping to squeeze out one more season.

In terms of a BBQ, it might be like flipping a nearly empty ketchup bottle. But because the sides are all slathered in red, it’s impossible to tell how much is actually left inside. With Carrasco, there’s not much. You can stick a knife inside and scrape out a little bit like his early July start against the Arizona Diamondbacks.