Justin Verlander impressed in a minor league rehab start Friday and Max Scherzer is expected to return to the rotation Monday after a 10-game suspension. That’s a double dip of good news for the New York Mets. But perhaps not so for David Peterson or Tylor Megill.
Should Verlander and Scherzer return to the rotation next week as planned, either Peterson or Megill could be sent back to Triple-A., though likely not both.
The Mets are missing four of their projected five starters, meaning fill ins Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi are also living on the edge this weekend.
Verlander looked excellent pitching for Double-A Binghamton in his first rehab start since he was placed on the IL with a teres major strain before Opening Day. He threw 69 pitches, 52 for strikes, over 4.2 scoreless innings. Verlander struck out six, walked one and allowed two hits.
His next start should be his first as a Met, next week in Detroit against the Tigers. Scherzer will also return to the rotation next week, slated to start the series finale at home against the Atlanta Braves.
Talk about sight for sore eyes. Barring any setbacks, the Mets will have their pair of $43 million pitchers in the rotation for the first time this season.
New York has managed to post a 15-11 record to start the season, just two games behind the Braves in the NL East. That’s impressive considering Jose Quintana is not expected to make his Mets debut until July, Carlos Carrasco pitched poorly before landing on the IL with bone spurs in his elbow, Verlander hasn’t pitched in a game yet and Scherzer missed two turns in the rotation after being suspended for allegedly using too much of a sticky substance.
Kodai Senga is the only regular starter to have remained in the rotation. He’s done so with mixed results (4.15 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 18 walks in 26 innings, though he also has 32 Ks and a 3-1 won-loss record).
Which brings us to the four starters currently filling in. Butto seems most likely to be sent back to the minors after he makes his third start Sunday. He’s had one very good start and a poor one. Since he’s roughly 9th or 10th on the depth chart, Butto will head to Syracuse for more seasoning.
Lucchesi has made two starts and pitched well. He tossed seven scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants in his first MLB start since undergoing Tommy John surgery. And he was good, if not great, against the Washington Nationals on Thursday, allowing three runs (including two inherited runners allowed to score against Tommy Hunter) in 5.1 innings.
The left-hander may have shown enough to stay in the rotation, depending on how Peterson and Megill fare this weekend against the Braves. Peterson (1-3, 7.36 ERA, 1.64 WHIP in five starts) has allowed seven home runs in 25.2 innings and is coming off a brutal start against the Giants. Megill (3-1, 3.96 ERA, 1.48 WHIP in five starts) has tailed off in his past two starts (seven runs in nine innings) after an excellent start to the season.
Megill seems to have the edge against Peterson. So, the heat would appear to be turned up more on the lefty, who starts against Max Fried and the Braves on Friday.
A point of emphasis for Peterson will be to get ahead in the count and keep his pitch count from ballooning early. It’s been an issue for all of the starters, so far, really, though especially Peterson. The Mets bullpen can't continue coming into games in the 5th and 6th inning game after game without the excessive workload coming back to bite the Mets at some point this season.
Perhaps when Verlander and Scherzer find their stride, that will help settle things down for the rotation.
Photo: Mark Rosenman