A win on Wednesday helped the New York Mets maintain their current spot in the NL Wild Card standings. That’s because someone forgot to tell the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Diego Padres and even the Atlanta Braves that it’s OK to lose every now and then.
Despite making no progress in the NL Wild Card standings, the Mets were able to quell the panic with an easy 9-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics, which included a win by starting pitcher David Peterson. It is the 33rd time a Mets pitcher has won a game this season.
And what about the other NL Wild Card contenders? We’re sizing each other up, and when we look at the eight teams that can earn a playoff spot, the Mets are long buried if they had to rely solely on wins from their starting pitchers.
Not every team has the same number of decisions on their starting pitcher, but at this point in the season they are much closer together. Here’s how the teams would stack up:
: Pittsburgh Steelers 42-37
The game against Atlanta Braves ended with a score of 40:36.
: St. Louis Cardinals 40-39
Arizona Diamondbacks 39-32
San Diego Padres 39–40
New York Mets 33–37
San Francisco Giants 31-38
: Chicago Cubs 30–35
With a very mediocre record of 33-37 for the Mets starters this year, they are practically eliminated. Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds, who have a run differential of +55, which is more than double the Mets’ +23, are showing their strength with a total of 42 wins by their starting team.
The Braves have been anchored by their pitchers all year, so it’s no surprise to see them there. The St. Louis Cardinals are in last place with a record just above .500 and will likely fall down considering how well the Arizona Diamondbacks have been doing lately.
There are about a million reasons why MLB doesn’t rank the standings this way. The game is played with relievers who are also eligible to win. That’s where a lot of these teams are catching up.
Interestingly, the teams with the best ERA for starting pitchers this year are the Chicago Cubs starters, who are in last place at 30-35. A 3.83 ERA from their starters beats several division leaders. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates, who have given up on their playoff hopes, are better at 3.75.
For anyone who’s interested, the Mets’ starting pitchers have a 4.24 ERA this year, which is better than the San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, and Arizona Diamondbacks. Even if we were to look at the NL Wild Card standings by that yardstick, they wouldn’t be much better. That tells a different story. For the Mets, their starting pitcher’s record is more a function of the few innings they’ve gotten.
The Mets relief pitchers have posted a 29-21 record with a 4.05 ERA this season. Teams competing for the NL Wild Card are much closer to that. The Diamondbacks, Padres and Giants have each seen their relief pitchers win 30 games. The Cubs are tied with the Mets at 29.
Starters must go at least 5 innings to qualify for the win, and we’ve seen too many times that Mets starters have been unable to do that. A big part of the reason for that is the 265 walks by Mets starters, a league high.
