Spinzone: The New York Mets Getting Off To A Slow Start Is Actually Good And It Appears We Have Figured Out The Problem
Well there you have it folks. The New York Metropolitans Baseball Club starting the first quarter of their season under .500 is actually a good thing! If you don't agree with that statement, you are a neanderthal that doesn't believe in analytics, sabermetrics, or all the other fancy nerd numbers that run baseball in 2023 and you think Moneyball should be burned
Besides, following that Padres wild card series from hell, every Mets fan said it's all about how the team finishes instead of how it starts after a 101 win season went down the drain before the NLDS. So the 2023 Mets are currently sitting in the catbird seat despite not winning a series for a full month.
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Now I know that not only have the last four NL pennant winners started off under .500 but I imagine most of the worst teams in baseball during those four seasons as well. So it would behoove the Mets to stop losing games at some point or at the very least figure out why they are losing so much.
The offense currently being 23rd in runs scored feels like a pretty big problem, even though I feel like they were middle of the pack only a week ago before they went 50 innings without a home run. The bullpen being precisely middle of the pack with the 15th ranked ERA almost feels like a miracle.
Despite all that, the starters checking in with a 25th-ranked ERA while logging in as 29th in WAR feels like a much bigger culprit since they often have the team trailing by the end of the first inning, which causes the offense to press and the bullpen to be overworked. Having a bad starting rotation is like having a bad foundation for your house. It's only a matter of time before everything crumbles.
Pictured: The last two weeks of New York Mets baseball
Obviously reason for this nightmarish start for the starters is that having a bunch of Olds in the rotation comes with risk of declining performance and injury, which has bore out with all four projected Opening Day starters that are 34+ years old missing significant time already and caused the Mets to start 10 pitchers by May 1st, which is something almost no team can overcome.
However here at Barstool we focus much more on blaming one struggling player for all of the Mets problems, so we just need to find one…
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Yup, those stats aren't great. Or good. Or bad. They are Matzian. I don't know how much longer the Mets can keep wheeling David Peterson out considering the advanced numbers probably look worse than Carlos Correa's ankle x-rays.
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Jeeeeeesus Christ. Rattling off names like Musial, Ohtani, and Vlad Jr. is like Biggie rapping "Real sick, brawl nights, I perform like Mike. Anyone: Tyson, Jordan, Jackson" in Victory. Just an absolute murderers row of heavy hitters. You in the mood to listen to Victory? Good me too!
Anyway, maybe instead of wheeling out a guy that is turning everyday MLB lineups into current and future Hall of Famers, how about lets give someone else a shot. Yes, even if that means wheeling out Cookie Carrasco knowing full well he may turn the Guardians, Rockies, and Cardinals lineups into prime roided out Barry Bonds. I'd lump Jose Quintana into the mix too, but I need proof of life for him before I even start to believe he can help turn this ship around.
UPDATE: Season saved!
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Speaking of Barry Bonds, I'm officially fine with the Mets calling up Mark Vientos even though they won't help the starting pitching simply because these stats are too absurd to ignore.
For much more completely accurate takes on the Mets, check out today's We Gotta Believe that ends with us kinda convincing ourselves everything will be alright if the starters can get healthy, even though the Rays lineup may have bashed all those good vibes into dust by this time on Thursday.