Via Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer
Just over two months left until this year Major League Baseball season, Mets lost both of their aces to injury.
The rotation is built to prevail, but it is built on premise Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom will deliver a 1-2 punch that no team can match. An uncertain cloud hovered. Even if Mets director Buck Showalter insists that “the sky doesn’t fall,” how can New York survive another seven weeks without its leading arms?
Immediately, right-handed people Taijuan Walkerlefthander David Peterson and veterans Carlos Carrasco removed that uncertainty. Between May 19 and July 4 – seven weeks Scherzer was on the oblique strain injury list and deGrom remained sidelined with a stress response – the Mets starters produced a 3.47 ERA, fourth best in the MLB. Even without teammates, the Mets lead the National League East and keep rolling.
Walker specifically stepped up while Scherzer and deGrom descended. He does contractions every fifth day, recording a 2.56 ERA in nine starts and 55.2 sets. That workload is second only to those who are just starting NL Sandy Alcantara, Aaron Nola and Adam Wainwright in that period of time. Walker posted a first half worthy of the All-Star nod, and the Mets would not be leading the NL East 4.5 games without a steady performance from the end of the rotation.
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But now the script has been flipped. Carrasco is sidelined due to muscle strain and is expected to miss another month or more. Walker left Tuesday’s start in Atlanta after just two innings after his back was “locked”. He was diagnosed with low back spasms and it was not immediately clear if he was fit enough to begin his next step.
Unfortunately, having lost two steady starts to Showalter and the Mets, the club is well equipped to deal with this adversity. Their immediate pitching depth includes Southpaw Peterson, who is capable of filling in one of the Carrasco or Walkers, and the right-hander. Trevor WilliamsThe employee’s Swiss Army knife has made eight starts and 14 appearances and is expected to slip back into rotation.
Throwing depth helps, but this path through the injury goes back to the blueprint the Mets designed during the season. Walker, Carrasco and others stepped up in the first half. To some extent, their injuries may have been the result of the workload and pressure building up while the aces were out.
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The onus to come out of this injury mess and maintain the lead in the table now falls to the Mets’ formidable 1-2 punch that has begun to plague opposing squads.
Scherzer has 1.82 ERAs in nine starts since he returned from IL, ranking fifth among MLB-qualified starters during that period. His 0.91 WHIP during that period ranked seventh in the league, better Marlins right-hand man Alcantara, who won the NL Cy Young award-winning favorite. Scherzer’s 31.4% hit rate matches the K-number of his career and ranks seventh among beginners with a minimum of 100 plays.
DeGrom was once an “alien”, according to teammates Chris Bassitt, since its August 2 season debut. New York’s flamethrower has posted 1.62 ERAs and 0.72 FIPs in three starts and 16.2 plays this month. Going into Thursday, deGrom had beaten exactly half of the strokes he had faced. It’s a small sample, but for the sixth year in a row, his average fast ball speed has increased from last season. Right now, his heater is at its highest average ever, at 99.3 mph.
No two pitchers could better be tasked with making rotations than Scherzer and deGrom, both of whom not only understood the task but thrived in it. Tell Scherzer that the Mets’ bullpen is short and taxing, and he will aim to throw eight innings. DeGrom has a similarly harsh attitude, but for now, he’s held back by the limits of his pitch. The 34-year-old is yet to play more than six innings this season and he will need two or three more warm-ups before he is considered fit.
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Furthermore, it’s not just the Mets rotation that Scherzer and deGrom will be doing.
The Amazins are dealing with a bunch of trident wounds Eduardo Escobar (oblique deformation), utility man Luis Guillorme (groin strain) and catcher Tomas Nido (disease not related to baseball). 2nd lead push Brett Baty, who is expected to start third most of the day while Escobar and Guillorme are sidelined, certainly helps provide a spark and fill a role. But the 22-year-old rookie is not tasked with ensuring the Mets keep the lead; That mission will always rest with the club’s veterans and stars.
The Mets (76-42) always go as far as Scherzer and deGrom can take them. Now is the time for teammates to prove they can, most importantly, stay healthy and continue to prevent offense every Thursday. And they won’t be alone in that effort. Right-hander Bassitt has scored the best ERA (1.72) in the Mets rotation since July 5, which is when Scherzer left IL.
The next few weeks will give us a glimpse of what the trio of Scherzer, deGrom and Bassitt can achieve as the calendar moves into post-season. The Mets just had to last long enough to get there.
Deesha Thosar is a FOX Sports MLB writer. Previously, she worked for the Mets for three and a half seasons as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. She never misses a single Rafael Nadal match, no matter what country or time zone he is playing in. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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