Mets’ Rotation Steps Up to Sweep Phillies

The New York Mets faced great uncertainty with a record of 27-27 heading into their home series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Up to that point, their season had been characterized by inconsistency and underperformance from their starting lineup and rotation. However, their series sweep against the Phillies marked a turning point in the season that was mainly headlined by outstanding contributions from their starting pitchers: Kodai Senga, Carlos Carrasco, and Max Scherzer.

In the opening game of the series, Kodai Senga pitched masterfully with seven innings of one-hit ball to go along with nine strikeouts. While Senga has struggled with control issues, he was able to take a step in the right direction on Tuesday when he did not walk a single Phillies batter. Senga also established great command of his signature “ghost forkball” pitch, for which he has a 59.1% whiff rate (best in baseball for any single pitch) this season, according to Baseball Savant. This notable performance from Senga continues a trend in which he has been more effective in home games than their road counterparts. He currently has a 1.20 ERA at Citi Field.

On Wednesday, Carlos Carrasco had big shoes to fill after the dominant performance from Senga the night prior. Although he was not as effective as Senga, he put up a very solid performance with six innings pitched and one run allowed with four strikeouts. This was the second consecutive quality start for Carrasco, which can be attributed to the increased use of his effective changeup. He threw 21 changeups out of his 82 pitches, which opposing players are batting a mere .083 against in the 2023 season. In his previous start against the Cubs, it was the curveball that unlocked success for Carrasco. Overall, Carrasco seems to be more reliable when he is throwing the pitches that are most effective within his arsenal.

Finally, Max Scherzer capped off this series with a vintage performance that featured seven innings pitched with nine strikeouts and one earned run allowed. Although he had a rocky return from his suspension against the Detroit Tigers, he seems to have moved past it with a string of dominant outings. He has tallied 25 innings pitched in his last four starts with an excellent 1.03 ERA and 28 strikeouts. His fastball was the main component of his success, as it was the pitch that he used to put away six of the nine batters he struck out. He also threw it for 49 out of his 101 pitches, which shows increased confidence in his ability to blow it past batters.

Scherzer has been very opinionated about the implementation of the pitch clock to begin the 2023 season. Although he never used it as an excuse for his underperformance earlier in the year, it can be implied that he struggled with his adjustment to the rule. In his postgame interview with SNY, Scherzer discussed a point in the game where he was not permitted to complete his full amount of warmup pitches due to the constraint of the pitch clock: “Why can’t the umpire have discretion in that situation to allow a pitcher to throw his eight normal warmup pitches?” While some players have different routines than others, it is evident that Scherzer is very meticulous regarding his preparation for games. If there are roadblocks that are preventing him from completing his full routine, that can have an impact on his performance.

Mets starters in the series: 20 IP, 12 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 22 K, 0.90 ERA

While the uptick in performance from the Mets’ offense is also part of the reason for their success, there is a clear relationship between good starting pitching and winning games. In fact, the Mets are now 16-0 when their starting pitcher throws six or more innings in a game. Although this type of success may not be sustainable for an entire season, we saw the positive impact that these pitchers had in an important series against a division rival. With a series against the potent offense of the Toronto Blue Jays on the horizon, the Mets will rely on their starting pitchers’ effectiveness for success.