Mets: 3 Max Scherzer replacements already on the roster
By Tim Boyle
In the face of a Max Scherzer injury, the New York Mets will first need to dip into their depth chart for a replacement.
The New York Mets will be without Max Scherzer for 6-8 weeks which means it’s time to call in the cavalry. While they could certainly try to find some answers outside of the organization with a trade, they may first want to test things out with some internal options.
David Peterson is the most logical player to take a spot in the rotation, however, he isn’t exactly replacing Scherzer. He was going to take Tylor Megill’s rotation spot already so in terms of looking for someone to actually replace Mad Max, we need to remove him from the equation.
This still leaves us with a few other options. Without making a trade, signing a forgotten free agent, or going with an opener, these are the three best options to replace Scherzer in the rotation.
1. Mets pitcher Trevor Williams should get the first shot at replacing Max Scherzer
The long man out of the bullpen, Trevor Williams has already had a chance to start for the Mets this year. They brought him over from the Chicago Cubs last season in the Javier Baez deal. His importance and flexibility essentially took over what Robert Gsellman was meant to provide them. In the offseason, the Mets decided Williams was a better fit and sent Gsellman packing when they decided to non-tender him.
Williams has a vast amount of big-league experience starting games. Most of them came as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2016-20. While there, he was 31-37 with a 4.43 ERA.
This may be better than what the Mets can even hope to get out of him. However, if used sparingly with the expectation of only going four or five innings, they may be able to benefit from not exposing Williams too much.
Williams has already made two starts for New York this season. One was a loss featuring four earned runs across two innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The other was just this past Tuesday in game one of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals. This one was far more promising with Williams giving the Mets four shutout frames while striking out six.