TORONTO — The Mets have had some notably bad pitching moments this season. Throughout a 162-game season, blow-ups are inevitable. No team is immune to them, but they don’t have to become news if they’re few and far between. Yet for the Mets, there were times this season when the story was the pitching.
The bullpen implosions in May, Jorge Lopez chucking his glove over the netting into the stands, Edwin Diaz’s curious home-run problem and the erasure of top-end starting pitching depth. The team, of course, also dealt with right-handed ace Kodai Senga making his long-awaited return to action in July, only to suffer a season-ending injury in the sixth inning of his first start of the season.
The bigger story might have been the Mets’ high walk rate. President of baseball operations David Stearns has twice had to answer questions about the amount of walks Mets pitchers were giving up, and as recently as a month ago, the free passes were threatening to derail the season.
The team promised to fix the issue. They’ve made good on that promise.
The walk rate has decreased significantly over the last few weeks. Since the start of September, the Mets have gone from walking nearly four batters per game (3.71 per nine innings, 28th in the league) to fewer than three (2.47 per nine innings). Only one other pitching staff is striking out hitters at a higher rate: The Atlanta Braves.
The Mets have gone on a tear as of late, going 10-1 over their last 11, largely propelled by starting pitching. The staff has posted a 1.80 ERA in those 11 games with the starting rotation combining for a 1.87 ERA with 20 walks and 72 strikeouts. Other teams are starting to take notice.
“You hear around the league now guys talking about our pitching,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday at Rogers Centre. “The biggest thing is that they’re throwing strikes. They’re not only getting ahead, but they’re getting quick outs when they need to. They’re making pitches when they need to, not walking as many people, knock on wood.”
The team never saw the walks as a one-size-fits-all issue, and couldn’t approach it as such either. They couldn’t identify a common denominator, other than the fact that they have a staff with guys who have historically had high walk rates. The Mets knew they’d have to live with that, but some pitchers also had to rethink the way they sequenced and the catchers did as well.
“Throwing in-zone pitches that they can land in the zone, and in counts that they need strikes,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told the Daily News last month. “At 2-1 or 3-1, we’re not trying to have them throw a pitch that they don’t normally throw in the zone. That’s probably not going to lead to success. So it’s a lot. That’s what we’ve been talking about, it just hasn’t happened. I don’t know if there’s a clear answer.”
There was no clear answer and there isn’t any one reason why the pitching has all come together at the same time, but it’s certainly the right time.
“I think it’s a group effort,” Mendoza said. “You’ve got to give the pitchers credit, you’ve got to give the catchers credit, you’ve got to give the whole pitching department credit. You can game plan all you want, but you’ve got to go out there and execute it and they’re doing that.
“I think it’s contagious. It’s like hitting. Day after day, one guy goes out there and throws six, and then the next guy feels like, ‘I’ve got to follow him.’”
It’s bred healthy competition in the rotation and the remade bullpen, which has posted the fourth-best ERA in the NL since the All-Star break (3.24).
There was some worry that the Mets wouldn’t have enough pitching to make it through August and September, but left-handed starters Sean Manaea and David Peterson have been dominant, left-hander Jose Quintana came out of a slump for the second time this year and right-hander Luis Severino has been steady.
In the bullpen, Diaz looks like he did in 2022, Phil Maton has turned in 19 scoreless outings since being traded to the Mets and Ryne Stanek has brought much needed firepower with his 99 MPH fastball. He’s allowed only one earned run over his last 7 2/3 innings.
Even Tylor Megill did his best Jacob deGrom impression Monday night in Toronto.
“Trusting their stuff in the strike zone is allowing them to not only pitch well, but also giving us length,” Mendoza said.
The true test will be navigating the Phillies and Braves over the next few weeks, but if they keep pitching like this, they’ll be able to pass.
