NEW YORK — Kodai Senga’s season-ending calf injury created a new area for the New York Mets to address before the trade deadline.
The Mets should add another starting pitcher.
Before Senga’s injury, the Mets felt good about their rotation, people briefed on the club’s thinking said, and it didn’t sound like they were targeting another starter at that point. However, after Senga went down, league sources indicated that they expected the Mets to at least explore the starting pitcher market. Nothing seemed imminent immediately after the Mets’ 4-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Saturday. But it’s an area where New York has room to upgrade by the July 30 deadline.
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Before the game, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said the club had “five legit starters here that have put us in this position.”
However, questions about performance and workload surround the group. Luis Severino, the Mets’ best available starter, is up to 120 2/3 innings after throwing just 209 1/3 innings the previous five years combined. Sean Manaea was not a full-time starter last year. Jose Quintana is 35 years old. David Peterson has pitched mostly fine in nine starts, but he hasn’t demonstrated a consistent ability to pitch more than five innings. Senga’s start Friday night ended a streak of five straight games of a Mets starter failing to record an out in the sixth inning.
Tylor Megill, who started Saturday in place of the injured Christian Scott, allowed four runs, five hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings (plus two batters). He gave up three home runs. Megill, who owns a 5.20 ERA in 45 innings, was originally installed as the sixth starter for the rotation but will remain in what’s expected to be a five-man group — unless the Mets make a move.
“The long ball got him, but I thought he was OK, I thought he was good,” Mendoza said.
Megill’s performance highlighted the problem with counting on him in the rotation while the Mets (55-48) compete for a playoff spot. He often tantalizes with promising stuff but can also be frustrating to watch because of a lack of consistent command.
Megill was terrific through the first three innings and didn’t allow a base runner because of a strong fastball-slider combination. But then in the fourth inning, Megill hung a slider to Marcell Ozuna, who made him pay with a home run. Megill then misplaced a 1-2 pitch to Matt Olson, leaving a splitter in the strike zone, which led to another home run. From there, his outing looked lackluster.
BACK-TO-BACK😤
Matt Olson launches a solo homer to left-center. pic.twitter.com/apNkvnAVzG
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) July 27, 2024
Beyond Megill, the Mets do not have much in the form of major-league experience. They have Joey Lucchesi lingering in Triple-A Syracuse, but they’ve already removed him from their 40-man roster. Prospects Mike Vasil and Dominic Hamel have had uneven seasons with Syracuse, though both have performed better lately. And prospect Blade Tidwell has failed to replicate his success from Double A since getting promoted to Syracuse earlier this year. The internal options appear limited now, and they’d look even more suspect if something else went wrong for the Mets.
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Perhaps the Mets would look to return José Buttó to the rotation if they truly needed to. But he’s been dynamite out of the bullpen; he has a 0.66 ERA in 13 2/3 innings as a reliever. Before Friday’s game, people familiar with the club’s thinking said they hadn’t even discussed changing Buttó’s role. Maybe that changes if the Mets continue to add to their bullpen, but until then Buttó is serving a critical role where he is.
The Mets have shown that they can get this far without a bona fide ace, though that may haunt them in the postseason if they make it. To even get to the playoffs, though, the Mets may find themselves needing another mid-tier starter to help provide quality innings. Either way, some kind of pitching help appears to be a need.
There’s a problem, though. There continues to be a high cost for rental relievers (multiple prospects) and starting pitchers, as evidenced by trades so far (plus league sources from multiple contending clubs looking to add pitching keep bemoaning the situation). So the Mets may face a steep price to add a pitcher. But there might be other ways to acquire pitching, whether it involves taking on salary or trading with another good team. And as the Mets’ playoff chances continue to rise, it makes sense to continue to supplement.
The Mets have demonstrated that they are too good of a team not to address a couple of final roster shortcomings before the deadline.
(Photo of Kodai Senga: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
