The Mets have had a lot of what-ifs in 2023. For the most part, all of them have surrounded player injuries at the start of the season. Edwin Díaz, Justin Verlander, and José Quintana, all three big off-season investments, started the season on the injured list. Those injuries partially resulted in a mediocre start and eventually spiraled into some of the worst Mets baseball this organization has seen in a decade.

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However, Quintana further solidified his own what-if in his start Tuesday against the Rangers. The left-hander threw six scoreless innings and struck out five batters. Although it has been a lost season for the Mets, Quintana has been a bright spot since returning from injury in July.

The Rangers had opportunities to score against Quintana on Tuesday, putting six runners on base via three hits and walks. However, the left-hander had his entire arsenal working against the Rangers, and induced three double play.

The Rangers have been one of the most prolific offensive teams in the major leagues this season. Coming into Tuesday’s game, the Rangers had scored the second most runs in baseball (731) and they had been particularly effective against lefties, with a .891 team OPS against Southpaws.

Quintana, however, defied the odds and shut down the Rangers, who enter Wednesday in a tie for the lead in the American League West. His six scoreless innings lowered his ERA to 3.26 on the season.

When he’s been healthy, Quintana has looked like the pitcher the Mets paid for last offseason. In eight starts, he has a 1.34 WHIP and 112 ERA+ to go along with his 3.26 overall ERA.

Quintana’s success has been due to limiting soft contact. While most of his baseball-savant percentiles are below 30, he’s in the 89th percentile for barrel percentage and 84th percentile for hard hit percentage. Mix that with his 40.5% groundball rate, and it’s no wonder why Quintana has allowed only one home run in 47 innings this season.

The Díaz injury may have been the first and most painful in 2023, but Quintana has shown in eight starts that his injury was a significant blow too. If he had been healthy at the beginning of the season, the Mets wouldn’t have had to rely on David Peterson, who went 1-7 with an 8.08 ERA, from March to May.

Unfortunately, the Mets can’t change what happened in the past. They’re 60-73 and sitting in last place in the National League East on August 30. Díaz hasn’t thrown a pitch this season and Verlander was traded back to the Astros. Instead of fighting for a pennant, the team is tanking while fans hope for a top-six pick in next year’s draft.

Still, Quintana has been a positive. The left-hander, along with Kodai Senga, are foundations in the Mets’ rotation. The Mets can rely on the two of them for solid performances in 2024 and add from a large group of free-agent starting pitchers.