So Now Mets Can’t Pitcher, Either

The first two games of the series with the Rockies has proven that the Mets surprising April was only smoke and mirrors and could not be sustained over the course of a long season. Pitching will eventually falter, and if the bats cannot pick up the slack, you will lose.

To recap — the Mets went 15-11 in April despite the fact that the team was hitting around .220 and was having trouble scoring runs. The pitching, however, was phenomenal, and that was why the Mets were able to win. It was a good formula while it lasted.

On Thursday Bartolo Colon became the first Mets starter all season to last fewer than five innings, giving up seven runs in 4.2 innings. The Mets offense was shut out through seven until adding four runs late in the game. On Friday Zack Wheeler also gave up seven runs in just four innings. The Mets managed to score three runs.

Mets starters will not continue to flop like this; they have shown that they can succeed. But the offense has not shown anything. So on days when the starters get the Mets in a hole, it is safe to assume that the offense will not be able to dig the team out of it. And there is no way to consistently win with such a flaccid offensive attack.

But things have to pick up, right? I mean, Curtis Granderson has to start hitting (we said the same thing about Jason Bay). David Wright has to start hitting homers (we said the same thing in 2009 when he was on his way to 10 home runs for the season). Travis d’Arnaud is young; he will hit (we said the same thing about countless prospects). Lucas Duda is too strong not to hit homers (don’t get me started).

So there is no guarantee that the offense will get much better as the season progresses. That means the pitching has to be perfect. And that is simply impossible. This is just a poorly constructed team that will have moments of promise but ultimately is not built to win in the long term.