Adrian Houser ineffective again, Mets unable to catch up in 7-4 loss
The Mets have now lost five of their last six games as Adrian Houser's ERA rose to 8.37 for the year
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost their second series in a row thanks to a second straight loss to the Cardinals by a score of 7-4 at Citi Field on Saturday afternoon (box)
Adrian Houser was shelled again, this time allowing six runs on nine hits in only 4.1 IP - his ERA is now 8.37 for the aseason
The Mets bullpen held the fort and allowed the Mets to get close, throwing 4.2 IP while allowing only one run and one hit
Pete Alonso hit a two-run home run in the fifth for the 200th of his career
Brandon Nimmo provided the rest of the offense with a two-run single in the fifth
Mark Vientos made his 2024 debut on Saturday, replacing Brett Baty in the seventh and going 1-for-2 at the plate
The club went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position on the day
Roster Moves 🗞️
OF Starling Marte placed on the bereavement list
RHP Drew Smith (shoulder soreness) placed on the 15-day injured list
Recalled RHP Dedinal Núñez from Triple-A Syracuse
Recalled INF Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse
Sent RHP Tylor Megill on rehab assignment to the Brooklyn Cyclones
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Drew Smith (shoulder soreness) underwent an MRI and there is no structural damage in his shoulder. He is hopeful to return when eligible
Pete Alonso… 🥂
Hit his 200th career home run in the fifth inning on Saturday
Joined Darryl Strawberry (252), David Wright (242), and Mike Piazza (220) as the only Mets to hit 200 career home runs
Reached 200 career homers in 710 games - only Ryan Howard (658 games), Aaron Judge (671 games) and Ralph Kiner (706 games) reached 200 career homers in fewer games
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Tylor Megill (Single-A BRK): 2 IP, 6 K
DH Nolan McLean (Single-A BRK): 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
OF Matt Rudnick (Double-A BNG): 4-for-5, 2 2B, 4 RBI
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (13-13) vs. Cardinals (13-14)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP José Quintana (1-2, 4.21 ERA) vs. RHP Lance Lynn (1-0, 2.81 ERA)
When: 1:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
What can the Mets do about this starting rotation? ✍️
The Mets are in a really tough spot with their rotation, as they’re suffering from a few major maladies.
The first, which we have talked about a lot over the past week or so are the inefficiencies from the starting rotation. We can talk about that what and the why later, but in the end the Mets rotation has provided 129.1 IP which ranks 28th in the game. That is good for 4.96 innings per game. They’re relying on their bullpen for 3.93 innings per game. That’s a recipe for long-term disaster in any pitching staff, leading to overuse, fatigue and, in some cases with the Mets, arm injuries.
Just see Drew Smith and Brooks Raley for that.
David Stearns as done a pretty good job playing the fresh arm game between the big club and Syracuse, but this just won’t work for too much longer. It’s been a month of chaos with this pitching staff, but at some point the Mets are going to have to figure out how to get not only more innings out of their starting pitching, but more quality innings at that.
That brings me to Adrian Houser who, to be perfectly honest, might be making the decision easy for the Mets when Tylor Megill returns from his rehab assignment.
It just hasn’t happened for Houser so far in 2024, with the walks serving as his primary problem to-date. He has issued more walks (16) than strikeouts (14) in his 23.2 IP so far in 2024. When a pitcher in this day and age doesn’t miss bats and can’t throw strikes, that usually makes it pretty easy to figure out why said pitcher has compiled an 8.37 ERA over his first five starts.
Saturday was less about the walks as much as it was the Cardinals just tattooing him early, of course. He gave up a crooked number in the first inning by just getting belted. Sure, it comes down to strike zone command and the quality of his strikes, and the quality of the strikes he threw in that inning were flat out poor.
But obviously, if it isn’t one thing with Houser, it’s another and like I said, it just hasn’t clicked for Houser so far with the Mets. They’ve lost four of his first five starts and his lack of innings is causing way too much early wear on the bullpen.
So, what can the Mets do? Because Houser is just one problem to solve.
The short answer is, not very much right now. There are no free agents to sign, there is no market for the kind of starter the Mets really need, either. Kodai Senga is still far away and even when he does return - and the hope is sometime in June - the Mets are going to be very judicious with him because of the nature of his shoulder injury. They already have José Buttó here - he has been up and down himself. Tylor Megill could return in a couple of more turns through the rotation but it’s not as if he’s a rotation savior, either. Joey Lucchesi can be an option, but that’s just the musical chairs game as well.
There is Christian Scott who, from a merit perspective, deserves to at least be in the conversation for a promotion in the short-term.
Scott is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA in his five starts with Triple-A Syracuse. He’s accumulated 34 strikeouts against only four walks in 20.2 IP at the minor league’s highest level. If you’ve watched him between spring training and his regular season starts, you know the stuff would play at the big league level right now. He has a big arm with a wicked swing-and-miss slider.
The question, of course, has to do with innings.
He threw 58.2 IP in 2022, 87.2 IP in 2023. With 20 IP under his belt now, you figure that leaves him with about 100-110-ish for the rest of the 2024 season. No matter what, whether Scott is here or in Triple-A, the Mets have to manage those innings very carefully, and it’s still only April. Yes, building his inning count here can and should be an option, but the Mets aren’t going to run him out there for seven innings at a time even if he’s lights out and deserves such an opportunity.
We’ve seen this movie before with pitchers too, so there’s no reason to expect otherwise with Scott, especially during a time in which it seems one pitcher after the next is going down with an elbow injury.
And the general rule of thumb is developing prospects should always be independent of the club’s current big league needs, even if it seems like one of those prospects can in fact fill one of those needs.
To be fair, it’s not as if anyone expect us to not be talking about this starting rotation throughout the season. It was the weakest part of the roster by far going in, and it’s been the most problematic part of the roster to-date - their 4.38 ERA among starting pitchers is 20th in baseball.
Still, this is the obvious point of emphasis for the Mets at the trade deadline. Assuming they can keep this train on the rails that long.
Around the League 🚩
DH Yordan Álvarez hit a 461 foot home run as the Astros beat the Rockies 12-4 in Mexico City
DH Shohei Ohtani hit a 119 mph bomb as part of the Dodgers 4-2 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto
The Red Sox put up two six-spots and 21 total hits on their way to a 17-0 rout of the Cubs at Fenway
Alex Verdugo had four RBI and both Gleyber Torres and Giancarlo Stanton had three RBI in the Yankees 15-3 rout of the Brewers