Mets' starting rotation has been particularly bad since Clay Holmes suffered broken leg
Mets pitcher David Peterson follows through during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Memorial Day has come and gone, and the Mets remain one of MLB’s cellar dwellers.
A 7-2 loss to the Reds on Tuesday night at Citi Field pushed their losing streak to five games and placed them 11 games under .500 (22-33).
Most of the blame has gone to the offense, which entered Tuesday ranked last in MLB in on-base percentage (.293) and slugging percentage (.350), second-to-last in wRC+ (86) and 26th in batting average (.227) and runs per game (3.85).
But the rotation certainly hasn’t lived up to expectations, either, and results have only gotten worse since Clay Holmes suffered a fractured right fibula against the Yankees on May 15.
David Peterson’s recent upward trajectory took a hit Tuesday, as the lefty allowed six runs and a career-high 11 hits in five innings.
Entering Tuesday and since May 15, Mets starting pitchers ranked 27th in MLB with a 6.32 ERA, 1.53 WHIP and 5.14 FIP — fielding independent pitching, a stat that estimates a pitcher’s run prevention independent of their defense’s performance — according to FanGraphs. They also issued the most walks per nine innings (4.79) in MLB during that 11-game span, which included Holmes’ most recent start in which he threw 95 pitches and faced seven batters after Spencer Jones’ line drive in the fourth caused the injury.
“It’s really just a next-man-up mentality,” Christian Scott told Newsday on Tuesday. “Obviously with Clay going down, he was a huge part of the rotation early on in the season, so it’s a lot of innings to pick up and a lot of zeros that we got to start getting up in order to kind of replace that.”
Holmes, who was 4-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 1.101 WHIP in 52 2⁄3 innings (nine starts) before his injury, had been one of the NL’s top starters.
In their previous 11 games before Tuesday, the Mets effectively used Huascar Brazoban and Tobias Myers as openers once each — Brazoban in a 6-3 win over the Yankees on May 16 and Myers in a 2-1 loss in Miami last Friday — which contributed to only 47 innings by their starters during that span, tied for the fourth-fewest in MLB. But in their last 10 traditional starts (including Peterson’s Tuesday), the Mets posted a 6.93 ERA in 49 1⁄3 innings — only 4.9 innings per start.
During the down stretch, Nolan McLean, Freddy Peralta and Scott each have made two starts. In those outings, McLean went 0-2 and allowed 13 earned runs in nine innings, Peralta went 0-1 and allowed seven earned runs in 12 innings and Scott had no decisions and allowed three earned runs in 9 2⁄3 innings.
McLean, who previously had looked like a budding ace in this early part of his career, now has a 4.40 ERA.
Peterson on Tuesday made his seventh start in 12 appearances and his second true start since Holmes’ injury. He has a 7.56 ERA as a starter this season.
When asked before Tuesday’s game about the rotation’s production since Holmes’ injury, Mendoza said: “I think they continue to give us a chance to win games.”
“Yeah, Nolan’s got back-to-back outings when it’s been hard for him, but other than that, you look up and I think guys continue to step up,” he added. “Whether it’s using an opener, the way Sean [Manaea] and Jonah [Tong], Petey with an opener, his last outing after a normal start. Freddy .... I feel like they’ve done their part in keeping us in games.”
The Mets announced Brazoban as Wednesday night’s starter, though The Athletic previously reported that Jonah Tong will make his second appearance of the season after pitching three hitless innings in his season debut in Miami on Friday.
Throughout the season, and especially since Holmes’ injury, there has been a lack of consistent clarity around who is starting each game. Sean Manaea has yet to make a start and Peterson and Kodai Senga have underachieved, with Senga sent to the injured list with lumbar spine inflammation last month.
Scott said the bullpen is doing a “great job” — entering Tuesday, Mets relievers owned a 2.81 ERA over 51 1⁄3 innings since May 15, the eighth-best ERA and second-most innings among MLB bullpens over that span — but noted the starters need to “help those guys out by going deeper in games.”
Has Holmes’ absence added pressure to the Mets’ staff?
“I don’t think of it as like added pressure, it’s more just like, it’s time to step up,” Scott said. “Like, this is kind of what we train for and what we prep for, so we would have an opportunity like this to be able to go out there and compete. Obviously, injuries are part of the game, and you don’t really want to see that on anybody, but it’s part of it.
“Whoever that’s going to be, whoever fills that rotation spot, that’s our job, and so we’re going to [compete] and do that at a high level.”
Notes & quotes: Juan Soto (illness) was back in the lineup Tuesday after missing the Mets’ previous two games. He hit a two-run homer in the sixth . . . Tyrone Taylor (right hip flexor strain) was placed on the 10-day injured list. Mendoza said the injury is “week by week” and hopefully “two-to-three” weeks and called it “relatively good news” after expecting worse . . . A.J. Minter (left lat surgery) returned from the IL and pitched a scoreless ninth. Jared Young (left meniscus tear) was also activated from the IL and went 0-for-1 with a walk. … Eric Wagaman was selected to the MLB roster … Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine disc herniation) was transferred to the 60-day IL … Outfielder Nick Morabito and righthander Jonathan Pintaro -- the Mets’ No. 11 and 20 prospects, according to MLB.com -- were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. “He’s got to play every day,” Mendoza said. “There’s no reason for him to be here playing once every two or three days just waiting on lefties … The messaging is: ‘Keep going over there. We’ll see you back here.’”
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
