Rotation Battle!

We might have watched our fourth (or fifth) starter pitch for the Mets today in Port St. Lucie.

Taijuan Walker tossed 2 innings today in his spring debut against the Cardinals. The number 2 was a recurring theme as he gave up two hits, two walks, two runs and recorded two strikeouts.

Walker touched 95 on the radar gun and was fairly sharp. That’s very encouraging considering he had a late start to the spring compared to most of his teammates.

I just have a few questions.

Was today his first audition? Is Taijuan Walker battling for a rotation spot?

I mean,  it should be fairly obvious that Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman and Carlos Carrasco have their spots written in stone. 

I’ll take it a step forward.

David Peterson should be in the Met rotation when the team breaks camp and heads north.

He was thrust into duty last season when Brodie Van Wagenen’s asinine joke of a rotation crumbled and he answered the call.

Should he be rewarded by being sent into Flexen/Oswalt territory? Spot start duty? The Syracuse to Queens shuttle?

Nah. Let’s pencil in Peterson in now. There is absolutely no reason to mess with his development. His pedigree alone warrants a shot.

 

 

 

 

See, that’s interesting.

Was Taijuan Walker really given 20 million guaranteed to battle for the fifth spot in the rotation?

Ultimately, performance should determine playing time. Not salary. And if anyone can deal with a sunk cost, it’s Steve Cohen.

But Walker was brought in after the Mets pursuit of Trevor Bauer fell short. The team obviously felt that the rotation needed a boost. They tried to give Trevor Bauer 40 million a year!

Did they like Bauer that much? Did they just want to make a splash? It’s hard to wrap my head around going that hard for a starting pitcher only to completely switch gears to a depth signing.

So, I could be completely wrong here. (Wouldn’t be the first time.)

But I think that we watched our fifth starter make his debut today.

Photo Credit: Corey Sipkin