After another solid outing by Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom (0-3), who went 5 2/3 innings giving up three runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out four, and was still denied his first big-league win, Ken Davidoff of the Post claims that the mets are a prime example of why starting pitching is not enough to make a successful team.
It’s all par for the Mets’ course — not only for this season, but also for the two years preceding 2014.
With 41 quality starts (a minimum of six innings pitched and maximum of three runs allowed) in 65 games, the Mets rank fourth in the National League with a 63.7 percent quality-start rate. The Reds jumped ahead of them Wednesday with their 41st start in 64 games, putting them at 64.1 percent. Nevertheless, the Mets’ record now stands at a woeful 29-36.
Last year, the Mets tied Cincinnati for the second-highest quality-start ratio, 58 percent, in the NL. That got them a 74-88 mark, tying the Brewers for the 10th-best (and fifth-worst) record in the NL. And in 2012, the Mets led the NL with a 62-percent quality-start rate, which left them at … 74-88 (sound familiar?), 12th-best and fifth-worst.
The Mets have seen an increased amount of close losses, defeats in which the starting pitching performed dutifully only to be let down by the squad’s lacking offense and subpar relief pitching.
Davidoff adds that it has become clear for the Mets that starting pitching can keep you in the game, but by itself it simply isn’t enough to take the victory.
Davdioff does have a point, with last night’s loss the Mets now have a major-league leading 23 losses by two runs or less. Their pitching staff is keeping them in these games, giving them every opportunity to drive in a few runs and steal the victory, but it is becoming increasingly clear that they just don’t have the ability to get that done. The Mets are hitting .226 with RISP, the sixth worst in the league.
