The Mets’ pitching rotation is producing good results

Before the 2024 season began, I think it is safe to say starting pitching was not expected to be a team strength for the New York Mets. The headline starters from the 2023 season, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, had been shipped elsewhere prior to the end of last season. No big-name starters were signed in the off-season, so the rotation seemed kind of mediocre. The relief corps, with Edwin Diaz returning figured to be a team strength, and there were proven hitters in the lineup. So far this season, however, the relievers have been as good or better than expected, the hitters have been kind of up and down, but the pitching rotation has been absolutely stellar.

Occasionally on this site, an author has been known to refer to sports entities outside of MLB, Notably the Minnesota Vikings and North Carolina State basketball. I too will now briefly enter into that now charted territory. The defensive unit of the 1972 Miami Dolphins was given the nickname “No-Name Defense” by the Hall of Fame Cowboys coach, Tom Landry. The nickname was not meant to be denigrating, Landry meant that despite the lack of marquee names, the defense worked hard and got the job done. The Dolphins not only won the Super Bowl that season, they went undefeated as well. The current Mets rotation could be the baseball equivalent of those Dolphins

The casual baseball fan might not know some of the Mets’ starters, there are no overpowering dominating hurlers in the mold of a Spencer Strider or a Zack Wheeler on this team, yet the results have been there. So, who are the pitchers who make up the “No-Name” rotation? We will look at the five main starters, in alphabetical order. Please note that all stats cited are through the games of Wednesday, April 17.

We’ll start off with right-hander Jose Butto, aged 26, the only pitcher in the current rotation on the good side of 30. Butto stated the year in the minors, then he got called up after the Tylor Megill injury. Butto so far has started two games, and pitched 12 innings. Of course that is a tiny sample, but he has put up a glittering WHIP figure of 0.75, and coincidentally an ERA of O.75 also. He’s thrown 15 strikeouts to only 4 walks. He has achieved this excellent strikeout ratio with a fastball that averages 93.8. That not bad velocity, but it is nowhere near the upper 90s fastballs that a lot of the top pitchers throw. Butto may not be able to sustain his success over the season, but he is certainly off to a good start.

Adrian Houser, 31, has been pitching as the 5th starter. Up to this year, he had spent his entire MLB career with the Milwaukee organization, so presumably Mets President David Stearns is familiar with him. In 3 starts he has 15.1 Ip, with a 0-1 record. His ERA is up there at 4.70, and his strikeout ratio is 5.28 Ks per 9 innings. He is not a hard thrower, with his sinker being his main pitch as he throws it 44% of the time. He does hold batters to a .232 BA. Expectations were not real high for him, and as someone slotted toward the bottom of the rotation, he is respectably holding down the fort so far.

Sean Manaea is a well-traveled lefty who has pitched 14.2 IP to a 1-1 record. His ERA is 4.30, but his FIP looks better at 3.52. He throws fastballs a little over 50% of the time, with an average velocity of 92.7. That of course is not the kind of stuff to make highlight reels, but he must have good command because he’s struck out 18 batters so far, better that a strikeout per inning.

Jose Quintana, 35, has spent most of his career with the White Sox, he made the All-Star team for them back in 2016. He was never a fireballer, and at this stage of his career he would be considered a finesse pitcher. In 4 games he has 20.2 IP with a 1-1 record and a fine ERA of 3.05. He has struck out 16 but walked 11 batters so far. He throws curves and changeups and fastballs, with his 4-seamer only averaging 90.1 MPH. He has gotten results though, with that approach that used to be called throwing “junk”.

Finally, there is 30-year-old Luis Severino, a long-time Yankee. He has had 4 starts with 21 IP and a 2-1 record. His ERA is excellent at 2.14, and he has averaged exactly a strikeout per inning so far. His WHIP is decent at 1.38. He leads the starters in fastball velocity at 96.6. The 2-time All-Star (2017, 2018) had a bad year for the Bronx Bombers last year but this year he is looking like the ace of the Mets staff.

When team pitching stats for this season are looked at, the “No-Name” rotation has acquitted itself very well. The Mets are first in the N.L in team ERA with a mark of 3.15, and second in the League in BA against with .221. With reinforcements on the horizon such as 2023 breakout star Kodai Senga, this rotation could lead the Mets to a very good season.