2 truths, and 1 lie about the Mets season so far

NY Mets truth: The pitching staff is missing its injured starters

The absence of Justin Verlander has elevated every other pitcher in the rotation other than maybe Max Scherzer who was already tapped to start for the club on Opening Day. He has his own issues this year. Has he gotten too old all of a sudden? Worried Mets fans seem to believe so.

The truth with the pitching staff is that they are going to miss Verlander every time they go through the rotation without him. Even if Tylor Megill pitches well in his place, clunkers like David Peterson’s most recent outing will hurt much more. The Mets have no one they can realistically turn to for help right now to make any of us feel good.

Despite my own mediocre expectations for Jose Quintana, Carlos Carrasco’s first start of the year has me wondering if they’d be better off with him instead.

Eventually, the same could happen with Edwin Diaz out. David Robertson has been effective in the closer role. In Wednesday’s walk-off loss, however, we saw Buck Showalter turn to Adam Ottavino in the ninth only for him to allow a home run. The choice may not have changed with Diaz around. Diaz’s absence is more about how unraveled things are going to get when the Mets have no choice but to pitch Stephen Nogosek, Dennis Santana, and others in big situations.

Right now, the starting rotation is definitely the bigger concern for this team. The cold-hard fact: it might not be as stellar as it looked.