Mets’ starting pitching here in 2024 has been pretty bad. As a team, prior to Sunday morning’s start in London, the team’s SP were 11-22 with a 4.52 ERA. And that’s with Citi Field playing as an extreme pitcher’s park. That raw ERA ranked 23rd in the majors and if we had ERA+ in this split, it would be closer to 30th.
In addition to two disastrous spot starts, the Mets also have two starters with an ERA over 5.00 in Adrian Houser and Jose Quintana. They’ve already banished Houser to the pen – where he’s done exceptionally well – but they continue to trot Quintana out there, including a start later today. Quintana is 1-5 with a 5.17 ERA, while Jose Butto and Christian Scott are banished to Syracuse.
In the Mets360 era, there have been 16 SP with at least 50 IP with an ERA over 5.00 for the year, including Quintana. Here are the other 15, along with how their careers unfolded after that poor season with the Mets:
Hisanori Takahashi (2010, 12 starts, 5.01 ERA) – Pitched three more years in the majors but never made another start.
Rafael Montero (2017, 18 starts, 5.08 ERA) – Missed all of the following year with TJ surgery but came back in 2019 and is still pitching today. But all 249 games have been out of the pen.
Zack Wheeler (2017, 17 starts, 5.21 ERA) – This was his first year back after essentially missing two years with TJ surgery. After 11 starts, Wheeler had a 3.45 ERA. But in his final six games, he allowed 26 ER in 23.2 IP to finish with the ugly ERA. Since 2018, Wheeler is 73-43 with a 3.20 ERA and has been one of the best pitchers in the majors.
David Peterson (2023, 21 starts, 5.24 ERA) – Had offseason hip surgery and has just returned to action in the majors, with the typical claim of haven’t felt this good in years. In two starts, Peterson has a 3.09 ERA in 11.2 IP.
Robert Gsellman (2017, 22 starts, 5.29 ERA) – Pitched five seasons in the majors after this ugly performance, starting five times in 151 games. From 2018 on, Gsellman had a 4.73 ERA in 201.2 IP.
Jeremy Hefner (2012, 13 starts, 5.32 ERA) – Came back to make 23 starts in 2013 but that was his last year in the majors, with his career derailed by two TJ surgeries.
Peterson (2021, 15 starts, 5.54 ERA) – Not a list you want to be on twice. Peterson came back with a solid year in 2022, splitting time as a starter and reliever while posting a 3.83 ERA in 105.2 IP before his ugly performance noted earlier in ’23.
Shaun Marcum (2013, 12 starts, 5.64 ERA – He did not pitch in the majors in 2014 due to an injured shoulder. Marcum pitched in seven games in 2015 and put up a 5.40 ERA and his career was over.
Rick Porcello (2020, 12 starts, 5.64 ERA) – It was not as bad of a year as it seemed on the surface, as he had a 3.33 FIP. But this was Porcello’s final year in the majors.
Jason Vargas (2018, 12 starts, 5.77 ERA) – He came back the following year and was solid with the Mets, posting a 4.01 ERA – a 102 ERA+ – before being dealt at the trade deadline to the Phillies. Vargas reverted to ’18 form with Philadelphia, as he had a 5.37 ERA in his final 11 starts of the year, which was also the final MLB action of his career.
Carlos Carrasco (2021, 12 starts, 6.04 ERA) – His first year with the Mets was delayed by injury and he would have been better off missing the entire season. Carrasco won 15 games in 2022.
Steven Matz (2017, 13 starts, 6.08 ERA) – Gosh, that 2017 rotation makes the current one look great. Matz is still plugging along. Since 2018, he’s appeared in 146 games, 128 starts, and in 676.1 IP has a 4.42 ERA.
Logan Verrett (2016, 12 starts, 6.45 ERA) – He appeared in four games in relief for the Orioles in 2017, the last time he pitched in the majors.
Matt Harvey (2017, 18 starts, 6.70 ERA) – Nope, we weren’t done with the terrible SP in 2017. After this season, Harvey pitched four more years in the majors and put up a 6.00 ERA in 354 IP.
Carrasco (2023, 20 starts, 6.80 ERA) – With all of the injuries to SP last year, the Mets had little choice but to keep trotting Carrasco out there, before finally pulling the plug in August. He hooked back on with the Guardians this season and in 10 starts, Carrasco has a 5.66 ERA.
*****
Not that it’s a surprise but this is terrible company that Quintana is keeping. The only one who went on to put up another good full season in the majors was Wheeler, who was 27 in his year on this list and coming back after not pitching in the majors the previous two seasons. Peterson may join Wheeler in the future as a success story. But he was in his age-25 and age-27 seasons in the times he made the list. Quintana is in his age-35 season here in 2024.
Starters for the Mets in 2017 had a 5.14 ERA.
I know they want to trade him, so they keep hoping…. “Hope dies last”…
A veteran pitcher, that has good career, should get a chance to right himself with 10-11 starts. Quintana had 13 starts and didn’t step up.
Quintana rotation spot is scheduled this Saturday. Butto or Scott should get the Saturday start. Nunez, Young, Diekman and Houser are better pitchers now than Quintana. Quintana should be DFA because he hasn’t any value in the trade market.
“In the Mets360 era”, that’s awesome. It is truly and rightly an era. Congratulations on that accomplishment.
Certainly a list to avoid. I’ll root for Mr. Peterson to take the Wheeler route.
Thanks for the kind words! We all mark time in different ways, I suppose.
After allowing 3 ER in 3.2 IP today, Quintana now has a 5.29 ERA in 66.1 IP. And it’s only that low because of Citi Field suppressing offense and playing like an extreme pitcher’s park. Quintana has a 3.86 home ERA this year. Hopefully, this is his last start of the season.
I can understand, possibly, why the Mets gave up on Wheeler, given his actual numbers and apparent fragility. Can anybody honestly say they expected his numbers with Philco to be that good especially with all the innings they allowed him to pitch?
However, what I never understood is why they gave up on Lugo. He had good numbers, outside of 2017 and 2020. Interestingly, he made 25 of his 38 total starts with the Mets in those two seasons
Look at his numbers now with KC at age 34, and try not to weep. I can’t understand why they weren’t able to offer him the one-year $7.5M that SD gave him as a free agent
I expected Wheeler to be this good.
Anyone who didn’t see this coming was simply a slave to 20th Century numbers. If you were living in this century and saw that Wheeler had a 4.2 WAR in 2018, followed by a 4.6 fWAR in 2019 – you absolutely considered Wheeler one of the top pitchers in the game when he left as a free agent. Pitchers who put up back-to-back 4-something fWAR seasons simply don’t grow on trees.