The Mets’ starting pitching has really rounded into form here over the last month or so. With Justin Verlander’s 8 IP, 1 ER outing Wednesday night, Mets’ SP now have a 3.32 ERA over their last 31 games. For the entire season, starters for the club have a 4.45 ERA, which is one point above the MLB average here in 2023. The Rays and Rangers are tied with the best ERA from starters, with both teams having a 3.63 mark. And the Rays frequently use an opener, with 17 times this year where their starters went two innings or fewer. The Rays’ starters in those 17 games have a 1.05 ERA.
We’ve heard seemingly all season how well the Mets have done this year when their starter goes at least six innings. In the last 31 games, the starter has gone at least that deep into the game 17 times, with the Mets going 13-4 in those starts. Additionally, eight times in this span a Mets’ starter went at least seven innings and the team’s record in those games is 7-1. Four times a Mets’ SP has gone eight innings and unsurprisingly, the team is 4-0 when that happens.
Courtesy of Baseball-Reference, here are the individual games for the starters in the last 31 times out:
| Rk | Player | Date | Team | Opp | Result | App,Dec | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Justin Verlander | 7/19/2023 | NYM | CHW | W 5-1 | GS-8, W | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | |
| 9 | Carlos Carrasco | 7/6/2023 | NYM | @ | ARI | W 9-0 | GS-8, W | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 10 | Kodai Senga | 7/5/2023 | NYM | @ | ARI | W 2-1 | GS-8, W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 24 | Max Scherzer | 6/19/2023 | NYM | @ | HOU | W 11-1 | GS-8, W | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Max Scherzer | 7/16/2023 | NYM | LAD | W 2-1 (10) | GS-7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | |
| 13 | Justin Verlander | 7/1/2023 | NYM | SFG | W 4-1 | GS-7, W | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| 23 | Justin Verlander | 6/20/2023 | NYM | @ | HOU | L 2-4 | GS-7, L | 7 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 31 | Kodai Senga | 6/10/2023 | NYM | @ | PIT | W 5-1 | GS-7, W | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 26 | Kodai Senga | 6/17/2023 | NYM | STL | L 3-5 | GS-7, L | 6.2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | |
| 4 | Kodai Senga | 7/15/2023 | NYM | LAD | L 1-5 | GS-6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| 8 | Justin Verlander | 7/7/2023 | NYM | @ | SDP | W 7-5 (10) | GS-6 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 11 | Max Scherzer | 7/4/2023 | NYM | @ | ARI | W 8-5 | GS-6, W | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| 15 | Max Scherzer | 6/29/2023 | NYM | MIL | L 2-3 | GS-6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | |
| 17 | David Peterson | 6/27/2023 | NYM | MIL | W 7-2 | GS-6, W | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | |
| 20 | Max Scherzer | 6/24/2023 | NYM | @ | PHI | W 4-2 | GS-6, W | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 27 | Tylor Megill | 6/16/2023 | NYM | STL | W 6-1 | GS-6, W | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | |
| 28 | Justin Verlander | 6/14/2023 | NYM | NYY | W 4-3 (10) | GS-6 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | |
| 7 | David Peterson | 7/8/2023 | NYM | @ | SDP | L 1-3 | GS-6, L | 5.1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| 21 | Kodai Senga | 6/23/2023 | NYM | @ | PHI | L 1-5 | GS-6, L | 5.1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | Justin Verlander | 7/14/2023 | NYM | LAD | L 0-6 | GS-5, L | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 6 | |
| 6 | Max Scherzer | 7/9/2023 | NYM | @ | SDP | L 2-6 | GS-5, L | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
| 14 | Carlos Carrasco | 6/30/2023 | NYM | SFG | L 4-5 | GS-5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |
| 16 | Kodai Senga | 6/28/2023 | NYM | MIL | L 2-5 | GS-5 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |
| 18 | Justin Verlander | 6/26/2023 | NYM | MIL | L 1-2 | GS-5 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |
| 2 | Carlos Carrasco | 7/18/2023 | NYM | CHW | W 11-10 | GS-5 | 4.2 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | |
| 30 | Carlos Carrasco | 6/11/2023 | NYM | @ | PIT | L 1-2 | GS-5, L | 4.2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 12 | David Peterson | 7/2/2023 | NYM | SFG | W 8-4 | GS-4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 19 | Carlos Carrasco | 6/25/2023 | NYM | @ | PHI | L 6-7 | GS-4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 29 | Max Scherzer | 6/13/2023 | NYM | NYY | L 6-7 | GS-4 | 3.1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 25 | Carlos Carrasco | 6/18/2023 | NYM | STL | L 7-8 | GS-4 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 22 | Tylor Megill | 6/21/2023 | NYM | @ | HOU | L 8-10 | GS-3 | 2.1 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Totals | 176.1 | 144 | 72 | 65 | 24 | 64 | 184 |
You can sort this table by clicking on the column header.
Part of what’s helping the pitchers in this stretch is cutting down significantly on the clunkers. Only seven times in the last 31 games has a pitcher failed to complete at least five innings and the worst one of the bunch was by Megill, who’s no longer in the majors.
Additionally, the Mets are putting up these numbers in months that are traditionally higher scoring than April and May.
Starting this afternoon, we get to see if Jose Quintana can replicate last season’s results with the Cardinals. Adding another quality pitcher to the rotation should only help improve the results the Mets experience going forward, compared to those from the first 64 games of the season.
And hopefully we see more feast and less famine from the offense the rest of the season.
If only we saw this from him more consistently this year. Scherzer too with Sunday’s start.
It will be interesting to see what happens at the deadline. Verlander pitched well and Quintana only gave up two runs, so that was a decent start. But, the bats fell silent again.