The New York Mets’ once-vaunted rotation is now in shambles. The loss of Zack Wheeler in free agency was expected, but seeing Noah Syndergaard go down with Tommy John surgery in March was a blow. The next big hit came yesterday when Marcus Stroman opted out of the season over coronavirus concerns. Stroman, who had yet to pitch in 2020 as he was rehabbing a calf injury, was expected to slot in as the Mets’ no. 2 starter behind Jacob deGrom upon his return.
Adding in the injury to Michael Wacha and the recent struggles of Steven Matz makes the Mets’ rotation a scary place. Wacha is expected to regain a rotation spot when he returns from the injured list, but let’s assess some options the Mets could explore to replace Stroman.
Franklyn kilome
The top internal option may be Kilome, who made his big league debut on August 1, allowing two runs in four innings of relief against the Atlanta Braves. Kilome is coming off of Tommy John surgery but the Mets would sign for quality starts with some improved performance out of their bullpen.
Corey Oswalt
Oswalt was originally expected to be the fifth starter before absorbing innings in a blowout loss to Atlanta on the season’s first weekend. The Mets seem to like him despite the fact his big league results have been mediocre at best.
Walker Lockett
Currently on the injured list and building up stamina at the alternate site, Lockett is the only other true starting pitcher in the player pool with big-league experience at the moment. The Mets could hope to get some promising results out of Lockett thanks to some improved defensive play.
Kevin Smith
The Mets added Smith to their player pool after he made an impressive showing at AA a year ago. The problem here is that Smith has only pitched 31.1 innings above A-ball, which is not ideal for a jump to the majors.
Erasmo Ramirez
A swingman who didn’t make the team out of camp, Ramirez has big-league experience and is capable of starting. The Mets didn’t choose to carry Ramirez out of camp since he needed to be added to the 40 man roster, but that math could change now with Stroman gone.
Ariel Jurado
A recent pickup, Jurado hasn’t had much success with Texas but has experience starting. He seems like a long shot since the Mets would likely want to work with him a bit before exposing him to big-league competition.
Robert Gsellman
Brodie Van Wagenen mentioned Gsellman and Seth Lugo as rotation candidates but Lugo is too valuable to the bullpen right now to remove. Gsellman would need to be built up but he did have notable success at the end of 2016 as a starter with more mixed results in 2017.
A trade
The wild card on the board is a trade, which the Mets could explore if they want a significant upgrade on their internal options. One could argue that pouring significant resources into this season isn’t worth it since their odds of winning a championship without any top starters behind deGrom are low, but it is important to mention that the Wilpons could want one last run at glory before they sell the team. Van Wagenen could also use a good showing to impress the new owners, so don’t sleep on this one.
The Bottom line
If we are sticking to internal options it should either be Kilome or Gsellman. Lockett can be justified but the others are long-shots. A trade shouldn’t be a consideration unless the Mets significantly improve before the deadline, but Van Wagenen’s desire to bolster his resume for the new boss could lead to a win-now trade that ends up being short-sighted. Either way, whoever the Mets come up with will be a significant downgrade from Stroman.
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