The Mets’ starting pitching was incredible to start the season.
Despite coming into the year viewed as one of their biggest weaknesses, it’s shined.
But with the depth being put to the test of late, things have began to falter off.
While it’s not completely to blame, the Mets’ shorthanded and suddenly struggling rotation has ended up being one of the biggest catalysts behind their current season-high six-game losing streak.
“It starts on the mound,” Carlos Mendoza said. “The starting pitching, they’ve been so good the whole year pretty much carrying us to this point, you lose guys who have been consistently throwing the ball well and get some bad outings — it happens, we’re going through a rough stretch right now.”
They received another one of those bad outings on Thursday night in Atlanta, as Clay Holmes battled through some struggles with his command and issued a career-high six free passes over just 4.2 innings of work.
The last of those came to Drake Baldwin with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth.
“The walks hurt us, especially that last inning,” Holmes said. “You walk that many eventually it’s hard to avoid the big inning — the leadoff walk hurt, then [Ronald] Acuna got on and [Austin] Riley hit a good sinker. It forced me to throw more pitches, and it’s tough to overcome that many walks.”
Prior to Thursday’s showing Holmes had been a relatively steady presence in New York’s rotation — that marked just the second time he’d failed to complete five innings since his second start of the season.
The 32-year-old has by-far passed the most frames he’s thrown in a big-league season.
While there’s always some concern about him eventually hitting a wall in his first year transitioning from the bullpen to the starting rotation — Holmes insists he continues feeling strong out there.
“I feel like my stuff was some of the best it’s been all year today,” he said. “The ball was coming out well and I was moving really fast, so not really — I feel good physically and pitch-wise, it’s just a matter of executing a little better.”
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