If the Mets want to rebuild the right way, here’s the perfect blueprint
By Matt O'Leary
The New York Mets have plummeted to 14 games under .500 after starting the season 11-1. Is it time to rebuild this thing?
For the second year in a row, injuries have consumed the New York Mets. Built around starting pitching the Mets were supposed to be a team that pitches well and hits a lot of home runs. That’s been far from the case in 2018.
The starting staff has been good, not great, but good. deGrom has been flat out dominant with a 1.69 ERA in 16 starts. Due to unfortunate run support, or lack thereof, deGrom is only 5-3 on the season.
Noah Syndergaard, who’s hurt, had an effective 3.06 ERA while Steven Matz posted a 3.68 ERA. Those two have been fine, along with the dominant deGrom. It’s the back two that give you trouble. Zack Wheeler’s ERA is in the high 4’s while Jason Vargas’ ERA is approaching 9.
Given perspective, the staff is good. They’re in the top half of the league for starters ERA. It’s the bullpen and hitting that’s been a train wreck.
The Mets bullpen has a 4.76 ERA which is 26th in the league. Outside of Jeurys Familia and Seth Lugo, no one in the pen has an ERA under 4.
On the offensive side, they’re just as bad. They are 26th in the league in runs scored, 28th in batting average, 25th in OPS, and 20th in home runs. Essentially, everyone outside of Brandon Nimmo has been bad or injured offensively.
They’re an old, not very good baseball team which exposes us to an atrocious brand of baseball. The Mets can now either ride things out how they are, and hope that these guys figure it out and stay healthy in 2019, or rebuild.
I’ll take the latter.