Coming into 2011, with a new GM and manager and a tenuous ownership situation, most baseball fans expected the New York Mets to struggle. They cut ties with overpaid, underperforming veterans Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, and looked to rebuild from the ground up. The problem is, outside of the core that they already had in place, not many of the new guys are really performing like they need to be in order for the Mets to not be a laughingstock.
The Mets record after play ended on Thursday was 4-9, good for a tie for worst in the National League with Houston. Their -15 run differential also ties them with Houston for worst in the NL. Offense isn’t the problem for New York. They’ve scored 63 runs, good for fifth in the NL. The problem lies with the Mets pitching, which has allowed a horrific total of 78 runs through only 13 games. That is an absolutely pathetic number.
Coming into the season, the Mets number one starter ended up being Mike Pelfrey, due to the shoulder injury to Johan Santana that will sideline him until at least the All-Star Break. After a trio of starts, Pelfrey has more walks than strikeouts and a team high 10.80 ERA. Their number two was RA Dickey, a great story for the team last season. He’s got 12 walks in 17 1/3 innings, and the knuckleball isn’t knuckling enough anymore. The third starter is Jon Niese. His peripherals are actually pretty good (15 K, 5 BB). Problem is, all the hits are falling in, and he has a 6.88 ERA. The big surprise so far comes with one of the two reclamation projects brought in by New York, Chris Young. He leads the team with a 1.46 ERA and has struck out a batter an inning. But with him only allowing six hits in 12 innings, luck could be running out soon. And then there’s the other reclamation project, Chris Capuano. The less said about him, the better (three homers allowed in only 12 1/3 innings, but he’s got 13 K and only 4 BB. Progress?)
Three of the core members of the Mets bullpen are getting shelled as well. Blaine Boyer, Tim Byrdak, and Bobby Parnell have all thrown at least five innings and have ERAs of at least 7.20. Boyer was shipped to Buffalo earlier this week, as the Mets learned the lesson that every other team Boyer has pitched for has learned: Blaine Boyer sucks. Rule 5 pick Pedro Beato has been the star of the bullpen, throwing seven scoreless innings, albeit with only three strikeouts.
The problem with New York seems simple enough: fix the pitching. The offense is fine, with a great core of Jose Reyes, David Wright, Ike Davis, and a finally healthy Carlos Beltran. But if the Mets can’t do anything about their pitching staff, will they start to rip their offense apart in order to try to rebuild? Davis is going to be around for the long haul, and I assume Wright would be too. But Reyes and Beltran are both in their walk years, and the Mets might want to try to get something in return instead of just letting them walk. It could be difficult moving Beltran, due to his balky knee and exorbitant contract. Reyes could be worth a nice ransom though, as he’s only making $11 million this year and turns 28 in June.
If New York continues to struggle, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move Reyes to a team in need of a solid shortstop. Atlanta would be a great fit, if only they weren’t in the same division. Another option could be the defending World Champion Giants, who are trotting out the decaying corpse of Miguel Tejada at short right now and getting embarassed. One injury could change everything and open up the floodgates for a move, though.
One thing is for sure: the Mets absolutely need to do something about that starting pitching staff, or their great offense is going to go completely to waste.
