The Mets have three options for their fifth starter in 2017.
Robert Gsellman had strong peripherals to match his strong results.
Seth Lugo had strong results and the team won seven of his eight starts
Zack Wheeler looked on the verge of becoming a star before getting injured.
Who should get the nod?
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David Groveman: His 28 MPH Slurve reaches the plate approximately 40% of the time and he can safely throw 11 pitches prior to suffering arm strain. He’s willing to play for the league minimum and is still under 40 years old.
Talk about a bargain!
Gazelle Man!
I would like to see each of them start for two months, starting with Gsellman, then Lugo, then Wheeler. The other two can be in the pen, especially if no one else is added who is better.
When in the pen, they should be able to pitch 2+ innings per appearance, in an Andrew Milleresque role. Turns a potential weakness into a strength.
I like, I like.
Really? Because I thought this was kind of backwards. Neither Gsellman nor Lugo have any kind of innings restrictions that would prevent them from completing what we would expect a 5th starter to produce. If one of them gets the gig, I want them to do great and stay in the job all season.
What I liked was that we can get a small streak of about ten or eleven consecutive starts out of Lugo and Gsellman for either trading or analytical purposes. Gsellman last year had a great deal of good fortune in his starts that his numbers don’t support, so I’m not sold. Really, call this a Lugo/Gsellman square off with Wheeler at crunch time.
If Wheeler is failing, bring back the winner of the square off.
For more on Gsellman’s good fortune, please click here 😉
Gsellman – 2.42 ERA, 2.63 FIP, 3.38 xFIP, 2.71 barelFIP
Lugo – 2.67 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 4.71 xFIP, 6.07 barrelFIP
Just want to see them do it again before I conclude who’s better. My opinion.
If health and spring training results are equal then I would choose Wheeler. In one stretch in 2014 he had gone nine games in a row pitching six or more innings. Starting pitchers who pitch into the 7th inning save a team’s bullpen and gives the team a chance to win. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that he will have the health or stamina in April to be that pitcher therefore Gsellman would be the man.
Unfortunately that’s a bit of cherry picked stretch. In ’13, he made 17 starts, pitching 7 innings 3x and into the 7th only 4x. He never went more than 7. In ’14, he had 1 CG, and 1 7 inning game, but 10x failed to go 6 IP, and 9x went exactly 6. Wheeler will be on a real innings limit after 2 years and a very rocky recovery. He won’t pitch more than 150 innings this year (if that), and so he can’t be counted on as an every day starter. I expect him to be play a role when the team goes to 6 starters as I bet they do. All this supposes he leaves PSL with his arm attached. Of all the rehabbing starters Wheeler is the guy we know the absolute least about.