The New York Mets traded for pitcher Chris Bassitt in the offseason to solidify their rotation, after several successful years in the Oakland Athletics’ rotation.
He had an auspicious start of his Mets tenure, with a 2.34 ERA in his first seven starts.
The wheels have fallen off in his last five turns, though, and he is now struggling to give the Mets quality starts every time he steps on the mound.
He has a 7.62 ERA in his last five starts, which is almost a run per inning: that’s not going to cut it, and he knows it.
Mets insider Pat Ragazzo, trying to look for answers, revealed a conversation he had with Bassitt recently.
Can’t necessarily draw conclusions for sure, but Bassitt told me back in early May that it took some time for him and McCann to figure each other out and make proper adjustments to game plan, which resulted in his clunker against San Fran in late April
— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) June 9, 2022
It’s Taking Some Time For Bassitt And His Catcher To Understand Each Other
He then quoted Bassitt: “More so growing pains between me and McCann, and just getting to know each other, and how teams like to attack,” Bassitt said. “I think it wasn’t great that (my start against the Giants) happened, but (it was) good moving forward because it showed us what we needed to work on.”
“More so growing pains between me and McCann, and just getting to know each other, and how teams like to attack," Bassitt said. "I think it wasn’t great that (my start against the Giants) happened, but (it was) good moving forward because it showed us what we needed to work on."
— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) June 9, 2022
James McCann caught five of those first seven starts, so one would imagine it takes some time for Bassitt and his regular catcher to establish successful communication channels.
But McCann went down with a wrist injury, and Tomas Nido and Patrick Mazeika began to get starts at catcher.
For Bassitt, that’s almost like starting all over again.
Nido caught three of Bassitt’s last five starts, and Mazeika handled the other two.
The pitcher, who now has a 4.35 ERA for the season, should be fine moving forward, as he builds a rapport with the Mets’ reserve catchers.
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