Mets’ injury-prone Wacha should benefit from abbreviated sked
One in a series.
The biggest winner among Mets pitchers during baseball’s shutdown might be Michael Wacha.
No longer facing the grind of a six-month season, the right-hander, who has a history of shoulder issues, might have a better chance of reaching the finish line during an abbreviated schedule. Wacha incurred shoulder discomfort as recently as last September, precluding him from pitching in the postseason for the Cardinals.
“You don’t want to pencil him in for 25-30 starts,” said a talent evaluator from a National League club. “But more like 12-15 might be in his wheelhouse better, so I think a shortened season helps a guy like him a lot.”
Wacha, 28, went 6-7 with a 4.76 ERA and 1.563 WHIP in 29 appearances last season for the Cardinals. Of those appearances, five came as a reliever, putting him in the conversation for a swingman role when spring training began this season with the Mets.
But since camp was suspended for the COVID-19 outbreak, the dynamic within the Mets pitching staff has changed: Noah Syndergaard underwent Tommy John surgery on March 26 that will sideline him into 2021, leaving Wacha as the likely fifth starter, behind Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz and Rick Porcello.
But if the Mets wanted to get creative, they could move Seth Lugo into the rotation, albeit at the bullpen’s expense. Lugo last season was the Mets’ best reliever, but perhaps the team would be willing to experiment with Wacha in that multi-inning role.
“Wacha, I think it’s a reach to think he can be a big factor this year,” the talent evaluator said. “Obviously, he is going to get an opportunity, but maybe he takes over that role Lugo has. Maybe you can give Lugo more of a break and they both could kind of handle that spot start, long relief, middle relief role.
“I see that more of [Wacha’s] role than trying to start him, because even with the shortened season he’s a guy that I think is not going to be able to sustain his effort over time because of the shoulder. I think in shorter spurts, and not that he can’t be extended over three or four innings at times, but I see him more in a Lugo role than a rotation role.”
Wacha was an All-Star for
the Cardinals in 2015, when he went 17-7 with a 3.38 ERA, but three of the past four seasons were a struggle for him. In 2018 he posted some of his best numbers — a 3.20 ERA and 1.233 WHIP, but that came over just 15 starts, as he was sidelined by multiple oblique strains.
Wacha arrived to the Mets last winter on an incentiveladen one-year contract that guarantees him $3 million. Wacha’s contract can max out at $10 million based on starts and relief appearances. The contract has a “points” system built into it that would reward Wacha even if he’s not a full-time starting pitcher. Under the arrangement, Wacha receives one point for a start or each relief appearance of at least three innings. Bonuses begin accumulating once he reaches 10 points.
The Mets also signed Porcello last winter, but the former Cy Young Award winner is viewed as a lower risk than Wacha.
“Anything I get from [Wacha] would be gravy because I think he’s not the same guy and hopefully he is healthier,” the talent evaluator said. “This rest is a big thing for the shoulder because the healing aspect of it is really good and that might help him, plus his experience being on championship-caliber teams and knowing how to pitch and all of that stuff.”