Dan Warthen: A Pitching Coach Evaluation

Ever since Dan Warthen took over for Rick Peterson as the team’s pitching coach, it has seemed as if he was never evaluated.

Well, that all changes right now.

With the Mets having their struggles in the first half, I am going to take a look at the pitching aspect of the game, and whether or not Warthen is really holding up his end of the bargain.

First, the Mets are currently ranked 11th in the National League with a 4.33 ERA, which is rather pedestrian. If you would ask any professional baseball person what that ERA would show, they would most definitely say mediocrity. The Mets only stand .37 ahead of San Diego, which is 15th in the NL’s ERA rank, second-worst to the Nationals.

Another thing that the Mets’ starting rotation has lacked this season is stamina. The Mets are currently tied for last in the NL with only one complete game this season, which was by Livan Hernandez. San Diego, Chicago, Atlanta, Milwaukee, and the Dodgers all have the honor of being in last with the Mets.

That’s two signs of bad coaching.

Perhaps the most glaring sign that this team might be in need of a coaching change in the pitching department is the amount of walks. The Mets currently rank second in the NL, while walking 343 batters. That's a lot of free base runners, and this would in fact average out to about one walk in every two innings.

You need to be very clutch to stay afloat, which is a trait that this team doesn't possess.

The Mets' pitchers also aren’t striking many people out, and they rank 14th in that department within the National League. In fact, San Francisco, which leads the NL in strikeouts, has 126 more than the Mets.

Overall, these numbers would seem to indicate that the Mets need an improvement…and fast. With guys like John Maine and Oliver Perez all missing a significant amount of time, the Mets need their pitchers to be healthy, or there may be a new regime leading the way before you know it.

Time to get going.