Folks, there are no sunshine and rainbows out in the sky right now when the Mets are mentioned. And if you venture into the deep, dark places of Mets Twitter, nobody knows if you’ll make it out the other side.
New York has had its share of issues all over the roster this year. After an eighth-inning meltdown in Philadelphia on Sunday, it was another loss for the Mets despite scoring at least six runs. Manager Buck Showalter’s club thrived in that situation in 2022, but not this year:
The #Mets have 12 losses when scoring 6+ runs this year.
Last season, the Mets were 55-4 when scoring 6+ runs. pic.twitter.com/MiovuQsH6M
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) June 26, 2023
The different areas of New York’s roster just can’t get in sync with one another. When the pitching staff twirls a gem, the offense goes missing. But when the bats come alive and put up a bunch of crooked numbers, the pitching staff acts like it’s Home Run Derby. The following stats back that up:
Mets team ERA in games when they score under 6 runs: 3.87 ERA; Mets team ERA in games when they score 6+ runs: 6.24 ERA
by u/TriviaWhiz in NewYorkMets
If that’s not the most frustrating/infuriating/add-in-your-own-word-here stat you’ve ever seen in your life, then I’m not sure what is. It’s hard to even put this into words. The pitching staff was built to be a strength of this club, and it’s crashed and burned in the most horrific way possible for the front office and coaching staff.
Things get worse when we boil it down to individual performances:
The state of the Mets pitching: The Mets only have three active pitchers with a FIP below 4. One of them is Luis Guillorme.
by u/smarjorie in NewYorkMets
In case you’re wondering what Fielder Independent Pitching (FIP) is, here’s the definition from MLB.com:
FIP is similar to ERA, but it focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over — strikeouts, unintentional walks, hit-by-pitches, and home runs. It entirely removes results on balls hit into the field of play.
So, the whole point of FIP is to give us a sense of how good or bad a pitcher is when it comes to scenarios he can control. Entering Monday’s action, there are four Mets players with a FIP lower than 4.00, as the above Reddit post suggests. Outside of Luis Guillorme and Vinny Nittoli, the other two are Zach Muckenhirn (who is currently in Triple-A), and David Robertson.
None of this is how the Mets drew it up. If they’d like to still be in contention once the trade market heats up next month, though, they must find some production on this roster. If they don’t, the hole they’ve dug themselves in the postseason chase will just continue to get deeper.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
