José Quintana, SP
Player Data: 34 (01/24/1989), B/T: R/L
Traditional Stats: 13 GS, 3-6, 75 2/3 IP, 3.57 ERA, 1.308 WHIP, 60 SO, 24 BB, 5 HR
Advanced Stats: 119 ERA+, 3.52 FIP, 18.8 SO%, 7.5 BB%, .307 BABIP, 1.6 bWAR
2023 Salary: $13 million
Grade B+
2023 Review
Known for his ability to eat innings and maintain his durability, José Quintana signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Mets in the offseason. Unfortunately, his season faced an early setback when side tightness led to the discovery of a stress reaction in his ribs, necessitating bone graft surgery to address a lesion. Despite this challenging start, less than two months later, Quintana made a strong return, appearing at the Citi Field clubhouse in seemingly good health. His season officially kicked off on July 20th.
In his first outing against one of his former teams, the White Sox, Quintana pitched five innings, surrendering two runs on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts. From that point on, he consistently impressed by delivering quality starts in seven of his remaining twelve appearances, often limiting opponents to two runs or fewer. However, despite his effectiveness, he frequently struggled to secure wins due to insufficient run support from the Mets offense.
Notable performances included a six-inning, one-run display against Atlanta on August 12th, a dominant three-hit outing against the Texas Rangers on August 29th, and a commanding seven-inning, one-run performance versus the Washington Nationals on September 5th.
Quintana’s pitching arsenal featured a primary sinker with an average velocity of 90.5 mph, which he skillfully used to disrupt batters’ eye levels. He complemented this with a 90.2-mph four-seam fastball. Batters found it challenging to hit his curveball, with just a .214 batting average against it this season. Additionally, he mixed in an 86-mph changeup, resulting in a 41.6 percent ground ball rate and a low barrel percentage.
As the season ended, Quintana had accumulated a solid ERA of 3.57, pitching 72 2/3 innings and striking out 60 in thirteen starts.
2024 Overview
Quintana enters the final year of the two-season contract, in which he will earn $13 million in 2024.
Following the trade of prominent starters Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander during the previous season’s trade deadline, Quintana naturally emerged as the team’s second-best starting pitcher. His non-trade status at the deadline implies that Quintana is poised to play a vital role in bolstering the Mets’ rotation in 2024, alongside rotation partner Kodai Senga.
Building on his impressive initial performance with New York, the Mets are counting on Quintana to maintain his health and be a consistent, full-time contributor throughout the 2024 season.
With a revamped starting rotation and a series of quality starts under his belt, Quintana is expected to play a pivotal role for the Mets, aiming to reinvigorate their overall team pitching performance after a collectively disappointing season on the mound.
