Mets starting pitcher depth chart after Adrian Houser's latest loss

Adrian Houser returned to the rotation on Tuesday and predictably gave up 6 earned runs in 5 innings of work. Some of the issues plaguing him this year weren’t so much the problem. He walked 1, struck out 4, and until his final two innings looked like a quality start was within the realm of possibility. It was not meant to be for the New York Mets pitcher whose spot in the rotation isn’t up for debate. Houser’s presence on the roster itself needs to be questioned.

The Mets are trying to figure out those final few spots in the rotation. How should the depth chart look now following Houser’s loss?

There’s no point in ranking Sean Manaea, Luis Severino, and Jose Quintana because none of the three are in jeopardy of losing a spot. Quintana hasn’t been masterful and a big game on Wednesday will be a requirement to assure us he won’t land in a similar conversation as Houser has. Behind those three, in the absence of Kodai Senga, are a whole bunch of questions. We’ve seen Jose Butto, Christian Scott, Tylor Megill, and Joey Lucchesi start recently along with Houser. It’s how they rank that matters most so let’s begin at the four spot.

4) Jose Butto

Butto had no business getting sent back to Syracuse, but we can understand the reasoning. He was wild in his last outing. Only Houser has been worse at walking batters. However, with a 3.08 ERA and a strikeout per inning, he has been one of the most effective Mets pitchers. He deserves to be in the rotation right now.

5) Christian Scott

Scott is next. His first two starts were very impressive. Even his most recent outing included some gutsy pitches to get out of a jam. He introduced us to how well he can perform in those tight situations in his first ever big league inning. It is becoming a positive trend. The ERA did balloon up to 4.32 his last time out. Three starts is too small of a sample size to discredit him at all. Unfortunately, he’ll probably get sent back down at some point.

6) Tylor Megill

Then there’s Megill whose return on Monday had its highs and lows. The 7 strikeouts were one of the highs. Two runs allowed in the first inning albeit only one of them earned got things off on the wrong foot. He got results and if not for a lackluster offensive performance, the Mets would’ve won.

7) Joey Lucchesi
8) Adrian Houser

We round out the depth chart with Houser and Lucchesi. Lucchesi was driving smoothly through the first 4 innings with only a Bryce Harper home run blemishing his outing. He’d end up with the bases loaded thanks to an error and three more runs would come across. He was one inning away from being much higher on the depth chart. Instead, he remains an option only when the Mets can accept 4 innings. This is his maximum.

The Mets will continue to toy with a six-man rotation at times this year. The question is, will Houser get another shot at being a part of it? Swapping him back and forth between the rotation and bullpen doesn’t really work either because now that he has started, they’ll be short a relief pitcher for a couple of days. Fans have seen enough. What about the front office?