Upon CLOSER Look, Yankees Don’t Care About Gun Violence

The tragedy of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas is just too much to bear. Just another senseless tragedy leaving us wondering how we ever get to this point.

When tragedies like this happen, we see a lot of political theatre. People need to rush to tell you both how they think they need to stop it, and really, just how much they truly care.

Enter the New York Yankees.

Before their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, both teams agreed in lieu of highlights, they’d tweet out and share facts about gun violence. Both sides felt with the tragedy that was far more important than seeing a highlight.

Again, this is theatre. This is so the teams get congratulated, and we’re led to believe they care. For example, here was this tweet from the Yankees.

Back in 2015, the Los Angeles Dodgers had a trade in place to acquire Aroldis Chapman from the Cincinnati Reds. They pulled out when details of Chapman’s domestic violence incident.

Chapman was alleged to have choked his girlfriend. He then shot eight rounds in his garage which was, at minimum, meant to intimidate.

This was enough for the Dodgers to pass on the trade. The Yankees were more than happy to take the Dodgers place. They said they did their due diligence only for Chapman to be the first ever player suspended under the DV policy.

When the Yankees were out of postseason contention, they traded Chapman to the Chicago Cubs. Chapman was an impending free agent who could go anywhere after the 2016 season.

Naturally, the Yankees paid up big time to bring him back. When his opt out came up, the Yankees were happy to work out a deal to keep Chapman around and happy.

When you think of what the Yankees organization thinks of domestic violence and gun violence, they’ve already told you. It doesn’t matter to them if they think you can help them win their 28th World Series.

So, good for the Yankees for tweeting those facts. Many fell for the act. That’s even the case when the Yankees tweeted out facts which show they know what they were signing up for when they traded for Chapman and agreed to two subsequent deals with him.

Really, Yankees, well done with the political theater and hypocrisy. Congratulations on fooling everyone into thinking you care.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Finally Lose Two In A Row

The New York Mets went to San Francisco looking to take yet another series, but this time, they failed, and for the first time this season, we saw some cracks in the foundation.

1.  If Edwin Diaz wants to be considered an elite closer, he cannot blow that save. Even when he is at his best, he has a propensity to blow saves in an inordinate fashion, and that is starting to creep back this season.

2.  A bigger issue in the bullpen is Drew Smith. The Mets can ill afford him regressing. No, you shouldn’t anticipate he would be the 12 scoreless appearance guy he was to start the season, but lately, he’s allowed runs in four of his last six appearances. There needs to be a happy medium here.

3.  Luis Guillorme is one of the Mets best players. He sits. J.D. Davis has a four hit game. He sits. Dominic Smith has a multi-hit game. He sits. It’s like Buck Showalter is punishing players for playing well.

4.  Starting Thomas Szapucki was just plain wrong on every level, and it cost the Mets a game.

5.  Yet again, Trevor Williams and Stephen Nogosek stepped up for the Mets. Williams needs a job in the starting rotation, and Nogosek is earning a deeper look going forward.

6.  Colin Holderman was been fantastic.

7.  Chris Bassitt chose a bad time for his first bad start, but it is what it is. He’s been great all year, and he will be fine.

8.  With his versatility and hitting, the Mets can ill afford to lose Jeff McNeil. That is even with Guillorme being more than capable of locking down second.

9.  McNeil’s sliding catch is why this Mets team is great. It was 9-1 in the third, and he’s risking injury to make an out. This team keeps fighting and does not quit no matter what the obstacle.

10. Francisco Lindor was a force in this series, and he fueled that seven run comeback. It was a reminder he’s an All-Star caliber player and future Hall of Famer.

11. For the first time in a long time, Eduardo Escobar had a good series. It was more than the doubles. It was the hustle on that infield single.

12. Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte certainly set the tone atop the lineup. It’s not just the at-bats or getting on base. It’s the way they hustle. It has rubbed off on everyone on this roster.

13. You can say until you’re blue in the face the Mets need to get a starting pitcher. They’re not available now. The Mets just have to weather this storm.

14. The ceiling is not caving in on this team. That is partially because the Phillies and Nationals are next. That said, they absolutely need to take care of business with an absolutely brutal West Coast trip to open June.

15. Just as Patrick Mazeika looked like he was going to push for more playing time, he stopped hitting. He also doesn’t seem to be syncing with up with the starting pitchers.

16. For all the talk about J.D. Martinez, the Boston Red Sox have gotten hot, and it looks like they can play themselves back into the expanded postseason picture. Also, we again need to note teams don’t make big trades like this in May.

17. While many are focusing on trades and needs and starting to panic, this Mets team keeps reminding us how good they are and just how much fight they have. That ninth inning rally against the Phillies was no fluke. This is deeply ingrained in the team’s DNA.

18. Mark Canha has really stepped it up of late. He had a big series against the Giants, and he’s reached safely in seven straight games. This comes at a time when the Mets need all of their bats to step it up.

19. It is certainly interesting that Showalter thinks Canha needs to sit as much as he does. What it says is difficult to ascertain, but we will see if this changes with McNeil banged up.

20. The Mets have a chance to absolutely bury the Phillies. They need to take advantage.

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Mets Starting Szapucki Bad Decision Making

In the series finale against the San Francisco Giants, the New York Mets sent Thomas Szapucki to the mound. Before he threw a pitch, it was a move which made zero sense.

Szapucki was once a top prospect who has seen his stock plummet. That’s largely due to injuries. That’s why the decision to start him was extremely counter productive.

Last year, Szapucki’s season was cut short as he underwent ulnar transposition surgery. While Szapucki’s surgery was a success, and he’s fully healed, Szapucki is not all the way back. Not yet.

In seven starts in Triple-A, he reached five innings once. He had not thrown more than 71 pitches in a game. His velocity has been building but not all the way there.

This is all another way of saying this was not a pitcher ready to make his first ever big league start.

But, that’s what the Mets did. They sent an unready pitcher to the mound against a good San Francisco Giants team. The results were catastrophic.

Over 1.1 innings, he allowed nine earned (NINE!) on seven hits and three walks. That included two homers from Evan Longoria. It was the first two homers of the year from a player who entered the game batting .194.

This is what happens when you take a pitcher who is not ready and push him into a spot like this. Maybe it’s not nine runs, but bad things will happen.

Now, the counter argument is what do you expect the Mets to do? Jacob deGrom, Tylor Megill, and Max Scherzer on the IL. The obvious retort is not this. Never this.

The other retort is Trevor Williams. What makes that option all the more maddening is Williams was actually available.

After Szapucki was knocked out, Williams pitched 3.2 scoreless throwing 53 pitches. That’s really impressive and all the more so given he pitched on short rest.

Williams has had success as a starter, and there were signs this was coming. However, instead of planning on him entering the rotation and pitching every fifth day, they jumped the gun with Szapucki.

It cost the Mets this game. Who knows what the other ramifications could be. That includes Szapucki’s future. Who knows how this will effect him and his future. In the end, it was not worth it.

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Edwin Diaz Not Quite Elite

The most promising sign we have seen from Edwin Diaz this year was how he reacted to the no-hitter. He knew what was happening, and what he needed to do. That would be the best we’ve ever seen of him.

Really, this year is the best we’ve seen of him. He’s having his first All-Star caliber season with the New York Mets, and there is a real and justified discussion about the need to extend him.

Diaz has been very, very good this year. However, as we saw in San Francisco, he’s just not quite elite. Not yet.

The Mets were down 8-4 entering the top of the eighth when they exploded for seven runs. They took an 11-8 lead.

Drew Smith, who has struggled lately, gave that lead right back. The Giants tied the score at 11-11 before he recorded an out. Fortunately, he was bailed out by Joely Rodriguez.

The Mets offense picked the team off the mat again. After knocking in the first run of that eighth inning rally, Dominic Smith came up huge again leading off the top of the ninth with a triple. Travis Jankowski pinch ran, and he’d score on a Brandon Nimmo sacrifice fly.

The Mets had a 12-11 lead, and they brought Diaz into the game.

Obviously, you need your closer to lock down every game he pitches. That said, these are the games you REALLY need. The Mets fought to get back into the game, and then, they fought back again.

After a double play, all Diaz needed was one more out. He didn’t get it, and the trouble started with a walk to Mike Yastrzemski.

From there, three straight singles from Darin Ruf, Joc Pederson, and Brandon Crawford turned an exhilarating 12-11 victory to a devastating 13-12 defeat.

You’ll note this damage mostly cane from left-handed batters. There’s something there with Diaz.

Yes, by and large, he’s platoon neutral. That said, he’s always walked left-handed batters at a higher clip than right-handed batters. Those walks lead to trouble, and they did here.

This marked the third blown save in 13 chances for Diaz. Those three saves are the second most in all of baseball this season. We can pretend otherwise, but even when Diaz is at his best, blown saves have been an issue for him.

It’s not just the blown saves but the moments. While there were a number of mitigating factors, you can certainly recall how he wilted in his one and only pennant race in 2019.

Overall, you’re better with Diaz than not. We’ve seen him able to rise to the occasion. You can win games and potentially World Series with him.

However, he’s just not elite. He’s not there quite yet. Elite closers lock down that game. He didn’t. We don’t need to over dwell on it because he will be fine in the long run. That still doesn’t mean we have to pretend he’s something he isn’t.

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Mets Must Now Bench J.D. Davis After His Big Game

In San Francisco, J.D. Davis had his best game of the season. He was 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Obviously, after a big breakout game like that the New York Mets have little other choice than to bench Davis.

Sounds dumb? Well, sure, but that is what Buck Showalter has been doing all season.

This is really how the Mets have handled Dominic Smith all-season. There is a clear pattern which has emerged where Smith has been benched immediately after he has had a multi-hit game: That includes the time where Smith had a four hit game like Davis just had.

It’s not just Smith. Luis Guillorme can’t seem to gain traction as an everyday player despite doing everything possible to prove he belongs. Case-in-point, Guillorme was actually sat in favor of Davis for the series opener against the Giants despite Guillorme being the Mets best player of late.

Guillorme has a current streak where he has reached safely in eight straight games. Over that stretch, he is batting .480/.500/.520 with a double, RBI, walk, and just three strikeouts. He’s also been playing absolutely stellar defense.

Go deeper, Guillorme has a 0.7 WAR so far this season. That puts him well ahead of Davis and Smith, each of whom have a negative WAR. As an aside, it also puts him ahead of Eduardo Escobar, who has had a miserable May.

The overriding point here is Guillorme has been playing extremely well. Over the past two weeks, he’s absolutely been one of the Mets best players. Despite that, he was sat against the Giants to permit Davis to get into the lineup. To his credit, Davis stepped up with a big game at the plate.

However, with the way Showalter has run things this year, that means Davis should go to the bench. Guillorme was on the bench to permit Davis to start, and everytime Smith has a multi-hit game, he goes right to the bench.

Starting Davis sends a very clear message the Mets are not invested in either Davis or Guillorme. Instead, it’s just a ruse when they are really only invested in Davis’ success. In reality, no other conclusion can be drawn if Davis plays while Guillorme and Smith sit.

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Mets Offense Explodes With Giant Win

Another game and another New York Mets starter with a big start. This time it was David Peterson‘s turn.

It didn’t start that way for Peterson. In the second, Brandon Crawford hit a two run homer giving the San Francisco Giants an early 2-0 lead.

The Mets would get him a lead in the top of the third. At the time, you wondered if it was going to be enough.

The Mets would nickel and dime Alex Cobb to death. For example, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte had consecutive infield singles in the third to help load the bases.

Francisco Lindor followed with a bloop down the left field line. Darin Ruf lumbered over, but he couldn’t make the play as he and the ball landed in the stands for a two RBI automatic double.

The two RBIs tied the score at 2-2. It was also Lindor’s 500th RBI. He would then score his 609th career run as Pete Alonso absolutely launched one to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

Peterson seemed poised to give that lead right back in the bottom of the third. He walked Ruf to start the inning and then plunked Wilmer Flores.

Peterson bore down, and he got Mike Yastrzemski to hit into the 1-6-3 double play. That play changed the game as Peterson got out of the inning, and the Mets would eventually blow out the Giants.

For Peterson, it was a well earned win. He limited the Giants to the two runs over six while striking out six.

Colin Holderman relieved Peterson in the seventh, and he continued to prove he belongs. He pitched a scoreless inning battling through a bleeding thumb on his pitching hand.

While Mets relievers literally bled, the Giants did figuratively as the Mets offense pounded them in the eighth to break the game open.

It started because Jeff McNeil just couldn’t get a bunt down all game. As noted by Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez, it was partially because his approach has him running towards first at the point of contact.

When McNeil couldn’t get the bunt down to beat the shift, he instead swung away and hit a two run homer off Giants reliever Mauricio Llovera.

And then, Mark Canha went back-to-back increasing the Mets lead to 8-2.

Patrick Mazeika capped off the scoring in the inning with an RBI double. That gave the Mets a 10-2 lead. For Mazeika, it was his third straight game with a double as he attempts to get the starting catching job.

After another scoreless inning from Holderman, the Giants sent outfielder Luis Gonzalez to the mound. After the dog and pony show was over the 10-2 lead grew to 13-2.

The Mets ability to clobber the Giants pitching led to Gonzalez pitching. Things were so bad for the Giants J.D. Davis, who entered the game hitting .188 with a -0.4 WAR, had a four hit night. It was just one of those nights for the Mets.

Chasen Shreve, who has struggled mightily of late, took the mound in the ninth. Again, he let up a run, but in a 13-3 game, it’s a footnote.

The Mets are now eight up in the division. That includes being nine up on the Atlanta Braves. Yes, the Mets are this good.

Game Notes: This was Max Scherzer‘s spot in the rotation. This was Buck Showalter‘s 66th Birthday.

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Mets Biggest Need Is Third Base (As Usual)

With the injuries to Jacob deGrom, Tylor Megill, and Max Scherzer, people are understandably taking an all-too early look at the starting pitching trade market. Some of it is an overreaction, but it is understandable when you lose starting pitchers of this caliber, and the Mets are in a position where their next best option is Trevor Williams.

That said, at this time of they year you’re not making blockbuster trades. The one exception is the 1998 Miami Marlins trading Mike Piazza after the Los Angeles Dodgers did something very stupid. So, of course, you call around, but you’re not making huge deals.

All that said, this is a very good time of the year to begin assessing what areas the Mets need to address at the trade deadline. Looking at the roster, it is difficult to come up with any other conclusion than third base is the biggest need the team needs to address.

Part and parcel of the problem is the Mets did not address it in the offseason. Yes, they signed Eduardo Escobar, but he was never a third baseman. We are seeing the impact of that so far this season.

Put the May dry spell aside. Escobar always fades in May only to break out again in June. At the plate. Escobar will be fine in the long run. However, with Escobar the issue has been and will always remain his defense.

Entering this season, Escobar was a -4 OAA at third since 2017. Most of that poor play came last year where he was a -3 OAA. If the belief was more time at third would help Escobar improve, so far, the operating theory has proven false. In fact, Escobar has a -5 OAA. That ranks as the third worst in all of baseball.

Simply put, the Mets need better at third. The problem for this franchise is where exactly are they going to get that better defensive play?

J.D. Davis is actually worse than Escobar in the field, and that’s before you consider he’s not hitting. Luis Guillorme has earned an everyday spot in the lineup, but historically, he’s struggled at third with a -2 OAA. However, it should be noted that since 2020, he’s actually a 1 OAA. That said, having him at third does limit his ability to play second where he’s a wizard.

Jeff McNeil remains the team’s best third baseman; however, the team continues to refuse to play him there. By and large, this is still probably a complete overreaction to his struggles in the pandemic 2020 season which lasted all of nine games. Of course, you could make the argument keeping him at second helps with the agility needed to shift to left field when needed.

Forget the minors. Mark Vientos is not a good defensive third baseman in the slightest. Brett Baty has been average, but he is just not hitting right now. Past that, there really aren’t any options.

Whatever the case, the Mets have built quite the versatile team. The only problem is much of that versatility does not involve having a good defensive third baseman. So far, it hasn’t really cost the Mets, but sooner or later, it will. As a result, the team needs to address this definciency by looking for either a starter or a late inning defensive replacement.

Pitchers will heal. Relievers will continue to emerge. However, the Mets will not just conjure a good defensive third baseman or someone capable of playing it everyday. That is a player the organization needs to proactively seek out at the trade deadline.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Leaving Colorado Mile High In Standings

The New York Mets went to Colorado, and while they didn’t explode offensively, they took yet another series.

1.  The Mets are as good as they are because they don’t let losses spiral out of control. They’ve lost two in a row just once, and they have won 14 consecutive games following a loss.

2.  Starling Marte following bereavement leave with a homer was as feel good of a moment as the Mets have had all season.

3.  The Mets may be down Jacob deGrom, Tylor Megill, and Max Scherzer, but they still have starting pitching on this team.

4.  Carlos Carrasco was very good allowing one earned over 5.1 innings.

5.  Taijuan Walker was even better with seven shutout innings. Between him and Carrasco, that’s 12.1 terrific innings from their starters . . . in Coors.

6.  One of the smartest things Buck Showalter has done all season is pairing his groundball pitchers with the optimal infield defensive alignment. It has been something which has helped both Walker and David Peterson.

7.  Of course, that means more playing time for Luis Guillorme, which is a great thing because he was a wizard in the field again, and he just keeps hitting.

8.  Again, Guillorme needs to play everyday. Saying otherwise is just wrong at this point.

9.  Mark Canha is certainly feast-or-famine. He will have two good games followed by a prolonged stretch of bad games.

10. It’s a good thing Eduardo Escobar historically struggles in May and follows that with a great June because it would otherwise be very worrisome that he has been this bad this month.

11. Regardless of how he hits, Escobar is not a third baseman as evidenced by this play in the field in this series and the season (-5 OAA) overall. This leaves the Mets top target at the trade deadline third base.

12. Patrick Mazeika has stepped up in his limited duty, but with Tomas Nido not hitting, the Mets are going to have to find a catcher at some point.

13. Growing up in Wyoming, Brandon Nimmo was a Rockies fan, and he always seems to play very well while out there. Then again, Nimmo plays well everywhere.

14. Chasen Shreve is really fighting it now, but mostly, he is just a victim of baseball’s three batter rule. The rule just never made sense, and it makes it all the more difficult for relievers to thrive.

15. Trevor Williams gave the Mets what you expect from a fifth starter in Coors. To some degree, it was surprising the team did not look to stretch him past four innings especially with him only at 52 pitches.

16. The Mets offense did not give you what you expected. A large part of that is the Mets offense regressed in May going from a 115 wRC+ in April to 105 this month.

17. Give the Mets credit, they did all you can expect up to this point of the season, and they have a seven game lead to show for it. They’re going to need it too with their top starters down as they head to a brutal June schedule.

18. Chris Bassitt avoided arbitration with a mutual $19 million option for next year. He’s not going to take it, but it going to be a launching board for an extension, which would be a great thing.

19. When the Mets are out of town playing a late night West Coast series, it is always great to head to Brooklyn to take in a Cyclones game. It is a great park.

20. This Mets team is more resilient and more special than what we have seen since 2016. They’re going to be in the postseason and make noise.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Back On Winning Ways Despite Biggest Losses Of All

The New York Mets responded to losing their first series of the season by taking three out of four from the St. Louis Cardinals. However, that does not mean the Mets did not sustain major losses.

1.  The worst thing to happen with the Mets this week was the death of Starling Marte‘s grandmother, a woman who began raising him when he was nine after his mother died. This is on the same week as the anniversary of his wife’s death. Nothing related to the Mets can be worse than this, and fans should greet him with a standing ovation when he returns to Citi Field.

2.  In terms of on-field, the Max Scherzer news is devastating. The Mets need him atop the rotation, and really they are at the point where they cannot afford to lose another starter.

3.  It would appear Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are on a race to see who will be the first to return. Never did we think this would happen this season, and yet, here we are.

4.  This makes the Chris Bassitt acquisition all the more important. He’s a legitimate top of the rotation pitcher (not an ace) for this team when they need one. We saw him be that in the series finale.

5.  Mets pitching from unlikely sources have stepped up all season, so maybe we will see it again. For example, Colin Holderman just picked up his first career win.

6.  In fact, pitchers not on the Opening Day roster to begin the season – Holderman, Adonis Medina, Stephen Nogosek, Jake Reed, and Yoan Lopez – have combined to allow just three earned over 17.1 innings.

7.  Speaking of stepping up, Trevor Williams stepped up big time pitching four scoreless innings. Really, he has been very good for the Mets eating innings over his last three appearances allowing just three earned over 11 1/3 innings. That’s great because he now needs to fill-in for Scherzer.

8.  In the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals, Pete Alonso hit a two run walk-off homer with an accompanying jump shot to give the Mets yet another series win. It was the capper for a big series for Alonso which saw him hit two homers with seven RBI.

9.  Alonso is having a big month. Over 18 games so far, he is hitting .309/.397/.618 with three doubles, six homers, and 19 RBI. It’s about to get a lot better with him and the Mets headed to Coors Field.

10. Again, Luis Guillorme needs to be an everyday player on this team. He was 5-for-12 in this series with a double and RBI. He’s hitting .323/.382/.484 in May. Really, there is zero reason not to play him everyday.

11. Buck Showalter makes some baffling moves sometimes like lifting Guillorme late in the game for Travis Jankowski only to bunt him over. Really, the Mets brought in a pinch runner to be sacrificed over and worsened their defense in what was then a tight game where the Mets had a lead.

12. For all the nonsense hysteria over Francisco Lindor. he was 4-for-12 in this series with six walks and has reached base safely in eight straight games. He’s fine and still a great player.

13. Time and again, Brandon Nimmo comes up huge. Whether it was the RBI triple or another big hit or great play, Nimmo is one of the best players in all of baseball and needs to be extended.

14. Speaking of great plays, Jeff McNeil scaling the wall and throwing out a player tagging up was just a phenomenal play. Really, between the versatility, improved defense, and his hitting, this is the best he has ever been.

15. Good for Dominic Smith for backing up his talk of wanting to play every day by going 3-for-7 with a run, double, two walks, and two RBI. This is the type of player who needs to play everyday.

16. Of course, the Mets followed his hot hitting by forcing J.D. Davis into the lineup who promptly went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. The Mets really just need to stop forcing him into the lineup whenever Smith gets going. It’s just counterproductive.

17. With the Mets dealing with starting pitching injuries, they just need to play their best players. That isn’t Davis.

18. Eduardo Escobar is hurting this team with his defense, and he’s still not back to hitting. The Mets may be forced to find a third baseman at the trade deadline.

19. When you hit a game winning homer, you can do whatever crazy celebration you want including the one Alonso did.

20. For all the troubles right now, the Mets are 12 games over .500 with a seven game lead in the division. They did what they needed to do through this part of the season, and now, they just need to keep playing well to win this division regardless of who is healthy or not.ba

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Trevor Williams Is Really Only Option To Replace Max Scherzer

Everything was going perfect for the New York Mets. After a big four run fifth inning, Max Scherzer was at 72 pitches. That meant he had at least a few more innings before passing it off to the bullpen to close out the win. That moment came far sooner than any of us realized.

After a 1-1 pitch to Dylan Carlson, Scherzer motioned to the dugout. He was hurt, and he knew he was done for the evening. Perhaps longer.

During the game, Gary Cohen announced Scherzer was going to have an MRI. After the game, Scherzer answered reporters questions. While he seemed alright, he told them he was in considerable pain, and he was experiencing spasms in his left side. It would seem reasonable to assume he’s going to be on the IL for an indeterminate amount of time.

You could really argue this was the arm the Mets could ill afford to lose. He was the Jacob deGrom insurance. While true to an extent, the Mets really can’t afford to lose anyone from their rotation from the moment. In addition to deGrom still recovering, Tylor Megill is dealing with biceps tendonitis. That means any pitcher injury was one too many.

Jose Butto and Thomas Szapucki are the only remaining starters on the 40 man roster. Butto has pitched fairly well in Double-A, but he hasn’t surpassed 64 pitches in an outing, and he is averaging four innings per start. All told, Butto is a non-starter (pun intended) for the Mets.

Szapucki has been impressing lately posting big strikeout numbers. However, Szapucki is returning from surgery, and he has also not gone above 64 pitches in a start, and he has reached five full innings in a start once. Szapucki is working his way back to being in consideration, but he’s still building strength, and in reality, it’s best for him and the Mets that he remain in Triple-A

That leaves the Mets in a bad spot. Looking at the Syracuse roster, Mike Montgomery is probably the best non-40 option, but he has a 5.52 ERA on the season including a 9.00 ERA over his last three starts. There also aren’t any surprise options down in Double-A. Really, the Mets answer isn’t in their minor league system.

The answer is Trevor Williams.

With respect to Williams, he was a Major League starter in his five plus seasons before coming to the New York Mets in the Javier Baez trade. The best way to put Williams career as a starting pitcher was he was a borderline fifth starter. That is a large reason why the Mets wanted him at the trade deadline as part of that trade. Williams was depth who could be moved to the bullpen.

In reality, Williams has pitched his best with the Mets with a 118 ERA+. Part of that was moving to the bullpen and not having to go through a lineup the second time. Going over his career, batters are hitting .283/.351/.468 when facing him a second time in a game. Again, he’s a borderline fifth starter.

The other benefit is working with Jeremy Hefner. He’s helped Williams get more movement on the sinker. Mostly, it’s just better location. Before joining the Mets, Williams had a 3.0 BB/9 and a 7.8 BB%. Since joining the Mets, he’s now at a 2.1 BB/9 and a 5.3 BB%. He’s also striking out more batters.

It’s more than that. Hefner was Williams working more down in the zone while using his four seamer up in the zone. The result has been a 45.2 GB%. Before joining the Mets, Williams had a 42.7 GB%. This has allowed Williams to take advantage of the Mets superior up the middle defense.

If these seem like incremental gains, well, they are. However, that’s still improvement which could help Williams become a more solid fifth starter. Honestly, that’s all the Mets need him to be right now.

Fortunately, he’s been at his best with the Mets, and due to a blowout loss and now a spot start, Williams has been stretched out a bit. In fact, he’s throwing as many pitches per outing as Butto and Szapucki. However, Williams has Major League success and has proven he can start at this level.

Overall, the Mets are a the end of their starting pitching depth. Williams is the next and last guy up. Fortunately, Williams is in a position where he can step up, and he’s been the best he’s ever been with the Mets. Hopefully, he can be that stopgap until somebody, anybody is able to return to the rotation.

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