A new starting pitcher depth option has emerged for the Mets

The New York Mets are in need of pitching depth. Max Scherzer had his last start skipped due to neck and shoulder issues, Carlos Carrasco is still a few weeks away, the Jose Butto experiment didn’t go as planned, Elieser Hernandez is going to be out for awhile, and David Peterson just isn’t getting it done. 

A new depth option became available to the Mets on Wednesday when Chase Anderson was DFA’d by the Rays

Anderson is not a super flashy pitcher, but he is a guy who can throw quality innings. He relies heavily on his cutter (30%), four-seamer (26%), and changeup (22%), but he does mix in some curveballs, sliders, and sinkers to keep hitters on their toes. He fits the Shaun-Marcum mold in the sense that he’ll throw whatever pitch he thinks will get him an out. This year, in just five innings with the Rays, his cutter already racked up -2 run value and his four-seamer is already at -1. That’s a lot for such a small sample size.

In those five innings, Anderson allowed just two hits and one walk. He didn’t strike anyone out, but he also didn’t allow a barrel. Anderson has been a ground ball pitcher over the last two years, so he’s really good at inducing weak contact, which works out well when you have guys like Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil behind you.

The risk with Anderson is that he has been injury prone the last three seasons. Since 2020, he hasn't pitched more than 48 innings or made more than nine starts in a season. The Rays were using him in long relief, so he hasn't started a game yet this year. If he can get back to his pre-2020 form, when he pitched more than 114 innings and made more than 21 starts every year, he could be really valuable.

This is not the type of move that would drastically alter the Mets’ season, but those moves don’t usually happen until July anyway. Anderson could be a reliable arm that would give David Peterson more time to figure it out and be a good depth/swingman option when Carrasco and Scherzer come back.