José Quintana took the mound for the sixth inning on Friday, holding on to a 1-1 lead with the Reds in the seventh game of the Mets 2024 season.

The lefty had escaped a jam in the fifth with the help of third baseman Brett Baty, and started the sixth strong by striking out Stuart Fairchild and inducing a ground out from Elly De La Cruz.

Unfortunately, Quintana was unable to complete the sixth, walking both Santiago Espinal and Will Benson, and gave way to Drew Smith to enter the game with two runners on base.

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Luckily for the Mets and Quintana, Smith got the job done, and got Luke Maile to pop up for the third out of the inning. The Mets maintained the 1-1 tie, and eventually won their second game of the season 3-2.

While there were multiple stars of the game, including Baty who went 2-for-3 with two defensive gems, Quintana gave the Mets a much-needed start. The lefty went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out four.

The start lowered his ERA to 2.61 through two starts, and gave multiple arms in the bullpen off days after a doubleheader against the Tigers on Thursday, which included an extra-inning game.

Quintana has been just one impressive arm in the Mets rotation so far this season. Sean Manaea displayed his strikeout stuff on Wednesday in the Tigers series, racking up eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings.

Adrian Houser also impressed in his Mets debut against the Tigers. The former Brewer pitched five innings on Thursday, allowing one run and three walks, while recording a 50% groundball rate in his first start of 2024.

It’s fair to say the new-look rotation, along with the bullpen, has been everything David Stearns could have hoped for. The Mets hold the second-best team ERA in the majors (2.18) and first overall in the National League through the first week of the season, trailing only the Red Sox (1.60).

That number includes Luis Severino, who has been the only Mets starter to struggle this season. In his Mets debut against the Brewers, he allowed six runs (three earned) on 11 hits in five innings. Still, there’s hope for Severino, as he averaged 96.4 miles per hour on his fastball and struck out six.

Can The Mets Rotation Continue Their Success? 

While the sample size has been short, the success of the Mets rotation should be turning heads. It was deemed the weakest part of the Mets roster coming into the 2024 season, but has easily become the strongest asset.

It has the chance to do what many analysts and professionals deemed unlikely at the start of the season — propel the Mets into the playoffs. Sure, this could be an overreaction to a one-week sample size, but what if it isn’t?

Manaea pitched to a 2.25 ERA in his last four starts with the Giants last season, Houser is a groundball pitcher with a strong left side behind him, and Quintana is a seasoned veteran who’s pitched to a 3.13 ERA over the last two seasons.

This also doesn’t take into account the Mets’ missing piece — Kodai Senga. The Japanese native established himself as an ace last season, pitching to a 2.98 ERA with 202 strikeouts over 166 1/3 innings. With Senga back, the rotation has a solidified one at the top, taking the pressure off the other starters to outperform.

It’s easier to imagine this Mets rotation better than worse. Senga, Tylor Megill, and David Peterson are all on the shelf with injury, and Severino should improve after one bad start against the Brewers.

And even if none of the above go the Mets’ way, their depth is debatably the best it’s been in the 21st century. José Buttó already gave the Mets a taste of what’s waiting, striking out six batters and allowing only one run in six innings in his spot start against the Tigers.

Buttó isn’t the only one waiting as well. Joey Lucchesi, Mike Vasil, Christian Scott, and Dominic Hamel are some of the names waiting in Triple-A for the Mets, along with Blade Tidwell and Tyler Stuart in Double-A.

This rotation is legitimate. All they need is some more runs.