Mets questionable Jose Quintana decision could end up costing them a playoff spot

The New York Mets won a thrilling game on Monday night, not only defeating a juggernaut of a Baltimore Orioles team, but doing so in thrilling fashion with Francisco Alvarez launching a walk-off home run. That win brought the Mets back to within 1.5 games of the third NL Wild Card spot in what has been a riveting race.

They had a chance to add to their momentum with another win on Tuesday against that same Orioles team, and even got off to a decent start, as after a caught stealing, the O's had two out and nobody on in the first inning. Unfortunately, that's where New York's starting pitcher Jose Quintana would continue to struggle.

He issued a two-out walk to Gunnar Henderson, and then threw a hanging curveball that Anthony Santander deposited into the left field seats. Before the Mets went up to bat, they were down 2-0. Quintana was never able to stop the bleeding.

Overall, the southpaw allowed seven runs in five innings of work. He allowed two long balls including a booming home run to light-hitting former Met James McCann and struck out just three. The Mets made things interesting with a four-run eighth, but lost the game by a final score of 9-5.

Despite going through his fourth rough start in a row, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that the team has no plans to remove Quintana from the rotation. That could end up costing them in what will be a close finish in the NL Wild Card race.

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Sticking with Jose Quintana in the rotation could cost the Mets a postseason spot

After Tuesday's rough outing, Quintana now has an 8.27 ERA in his four August starts. He has surpassed the five inning mark just once, and has allowed more than three runs in three of his four outings. Allowing nearly one run per inning pitched, it's safe to say Quintana is not giving his team much of a chance when he takes the ball. It's even more frustrating when taking into account that three of the four teams he has faced in this stretch rank 25th or below in runs scored as of this writing.

What's been most alarming with Quintana, a pitcher who does not have the best stuff in the world, is that his command has been off seemingly all year. His 9.0 percent walk rate is as high as it's been in a full season's workload since 2018. The 22 home runs he's given up is also the most he's surrendered in a season since 2018, and we're only in August. Quintana himself even said he's been missing his spots.

At his best, Quintana is a solid innings-eating mid-rotation arm. The Mets saw that in the second half of last season. Unfortunately, it has been a slog just getting Quintana to the sixth inning let alone through it, especially lately. With a tough stretch against teams they're chasing in the Wild Card race like the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks upcoming, can the Mets afford to keep him in the rotation?

Their pitching depth is not what it was earlier this season thanks to injuries to Christian Scott and Kodai Senga, but the Mets do have top prospect Brandon Sproat, who recently got promoted to Triple-A. They do have Joey Lucchesi who had a sub-3.00 ERA in nine starts for the Mets last season. They do have Tylor Megill who might even be a better option at this point.

Quintana is 35 years old and could simply be running out of gas. Continuing to rely on him especially when the rotation as a whole is inconsistent, could cost the Mets. They don't have the best depth, but the options that they do have can't be much worse than what Quintana has been for a month now. It'd be a move made out of desperation, but with time running out, the Mets should be desperate.