New Year Resolutions for the Mets starting pitchers for 2022

Carlos Carrasco

2022 Resolution: Pitch better in the first inning

Carlos Carrasco did not have the Mets debut that everyone envisioned in 2021. After suffering numerous setbacks and an extended period on the IL, Carrasco did not make his Mets debut until July. Unfortunately, his return to the rotation did not result in the positive impact the team needed. Instead, he went 1-5 with a 6.04 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, and 50 strikeouts in 53 ⅔ innings, only to get injured again and be shut down for the rest of the year.

After undergoing elbow surgery at the conclusion of the 2021 season, Carrasco’s timeline to resume baseball activities and return to the active roster is unclear. However, given the fact that Carrasco has been injured throughout much of his tenure with the Mets, it is obvious that the team cannot count on him for a full season of work.

It's too early to say Carlos Carrasco is a disappointment, but 2021 was a year the veteran right-handed pitcher would like to forget.

However, Carrasco will pitch at some point for the Mets in 2022, and if there is something that defined his struggles in 2021, it was his inability to pitch deep in games. The main reason why he was unable to pitch deep into games was because of his inability to pitch well in the first inning.

In many of his starts, Carrasco failed to get out of the first inning unscathed. Over his 15 starts with the team in 2021, Carrasco compiled a 13.50 ERA while giving up eight home runs.

Normally, pitchers are at their most effective the first time through the batting order, and are analytically speaking less effective the third time through the batting order. Carrasco subverted this analytical trend last season, and that did not bode well for his ability to fortify the Mets pitching staff when they needed him to.

For Carrasco to become a stabilizing force in the middle of the Mets rotation, he’s going to need to stop allowing runs in the first inning and early in games.