July 30th, 2024
Anthony DiComo
@AnthonyDiComoNEW YORK -- If only the entire Mets rotation looked like Jose Quintana.
The Mets are seeking starting pitching help prior to Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, and for good reason -- they only run five deep with big league-caliber starting pitchers right now, which puts them in dangerous territory. Their back-end starters have been inconsistent. They could use more ceiling in the rotation as well.
But Quintana? Quintana isn’t the problem.
Much as he did last year upon returning from injury, Quintana has rounded into form around midseason as the Mets’ most consistent pitcher. His outing Monday in a 15-2 drubbing of the Twins at Citi Field marked the sixth time in the left-hander's last eight starts that he’s gone at least five innings with one or zero runs allowed. On this night, Quintana cruised to an efficient six innings and one earned run, improving to 5-1 with a 1.91 ERA over that eight-start stretch.
“Q was rock solid,” first baseman Pete Alonso said.
Just because Quintana has been consistent, however, doesn’t mean he’s been working the same way every time out. Quintana flummoxed the Twins in part by throwing 48 curveballs -- the second-highest total of his career and the most curves he’s thrown in nine years. He said he made the adjustment after noticing the first two Twins hitters swing at first pitches to lead off the game.
“His curveball … if you haven’t seen it very much, it’s a very challenging and sometimes even frustrating pitch to have to deal with,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “It’s a big speed gap there on that pitch. It gets you out in front.”
Hard to choose
Asked before the game how he views José Buttó’s role, manager Carlos Mendoza laughed before answering.
“I mean …” he began.
“The way I’m going to put it is: He’s in the bullpen right now. We’ve been talking about what’s going to happen with the six-man rotation, right? We never got there. We’ll worry about that if we get there. But as of right now, he’s a huge piece of our bullpen.”
Hours later, Buttó proved it in mopping up the final three innings for his second save. The fact that Mendoza didn’t remove Buttó from a blowout was by design; the Mets wanted to keep him reasonably stretched out after he threw three innings and 40 pitches four days ago against the Braves.
No, it doesn’t mean the Mets are definitely turning Buttó back into a starting pitcher. But it does mean they want to keep that option open in case they don’t acquire an impact starter before the Deadline. If, say, the Mets deal for a reliever but not a starting pitcher, that would be the push they’d need to shift Buttó back into the rotation -- a process that would probably require a Minor League start or two to stretch him out more fully.
“I thought it was important to keep his pitch count somehow up,” Mendoza said of Buttó, whose 44 pitches were his most since converting to relief work in early July. “We’ll see what happens.”
Right now, Buttó is ostensibly the sixth man on the Mets’ rotation depth chart. Yet that can change in a big way on Tuesday, with a host of starters -- Blake Snell, Jack Flaherty, Tyler Anderson, Cal Quantrill and plenty of others among them -- still available.
Fifteen and feeling fine
The Mets sent 10-plus men to the plate in both the fourth and sixth innings, marking the first time they’ve done that twice in the same game in Queens since 1976. It was an all-out assault, with everyone contributing. In total, 11 Mets position players appeared in the game. They all recorded at least one hit.
“No sacrificial lambs,” said outfielder Tyrone Taylor, who also reached over the right-field fence to rob Ryan Jeffers of a homer.
The attack included an Alonso leadoff homer in the fourth to open the scoring, as well as Jesse Winker’s first Mets hit. While a source said the Mets have been sniffing around the infield market in recent days, offensive help is hardly the priority for a team that’s led the Majors in runs per game since May 31.
While the Mets have only topped 15 runs this season once before, when they scored 16 on April 11 against the Braves, they’ve produced strong performances more often than not over the last eight weeks.
“We’ve showcased who we are and our potential and what we can be as a team,” Alonso said. “It’s no accident. It’s a group of guys being resilient.”
