The Mets continue to express confidence in Adrian Houser, who will get a key start Thursday.
The eighth-year major leaguer and first-year Met pitcher has taken the mound with an 8.37 ERA, but his spot in the rotation is starting to feel the heat of both his own poor performance and the performance of others.
Triple-A Syracuse has interesting and effective players in Joey Lucge, Christian Scott and Dom Hamel, and a group of rehabbing starters including Kouhiro Chiga are close to being options.
Hauser is projected to be the No. 5 starter at the beginning of the season and will need to find something quickly to keep that spot.
I believe he is starting to understand something.
According to starter and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Hauser’s typically good command deserted him due to arm trajectory issues that threw off his mechanics.
Hauser said his arms became too long, which caused his entire vocalization to be slightly off.
In a strong 2023 season with the Brewers, Hauser allowed 2.75 walks per nine innings.
He will likely get the ball on Thursday with a 6.08 walk per nine innings.
Hauser said of the mechanical issues: “It was a little bit longer, so my timing was off and my arm was in the wrong position.” “I think that’s led to a loss of command and a lack of fastball command. We’ve been trying to get that in sync and … trying to get back to where we were in spring training. ”
Has he recovered?
“We’re on track,” Hauser said Wednesday before the Mets played the Cubs at Citi Field. “Even if we’re not there, we’re pretty close.”
There is some urgency for a team with playoff hopes and other options as well. The right-handed pitcher has allowed 14 runs in 8 1/3 innings in his past two starts, a performance uncharacteristic of the 31-year-old who has established himself as a great, if not energetic, starting pitcher for the Brewers. .
At his best, Hauser is a ground ball specialist, relying primarily on his sinker to induce soft southward contact.
Opposing hitters are hitting .283 against his best pitches this year, but the problem was bigger than one offer.
Opposing batters are particularly aggressive against his changeup (.545 batting average), and his mechanical issues are believed to be affecting all of his pitches.
“Ultimately, the hitters will tell us if the adjustment worked, if his command is better,” Hefner said. “But the important thing for him is that he doesn’t walk. … There’s going to be some balls, hopefully ground balls, and hopefully when the guys get on base we can reverse the double play.”
President of Baseball Operations David Stearns essentially brought Hauser from Milwaukee in a trade, and Stearns expressed confidence this week that Hauser “will work his way through this.” said.
Stearns watched Hauser struggle at times in Milwaukee, but he also saw him always get himself right.
From 2018-2023, Hauser was a slightly above-average starter with a 4.02 ERA, and while he didn’t wow many, he was able to find his way to the outside.
Mets fans weren’t around for a successful outing against the Brewers. Hauser knows he picked a bad season because he got off to a bad start.
“We’re definitely off to a good start, with a new team and new fan base,” Hauser said. “But I know what I bring to the table. What I’ve been able to do throughout my career.
“I know I’m definitely better than my current numbers.”
After a few days of solid practice between starts and adjusting his arm trajectory to be a little shorter, Hauser believes his numbers will change soon.
Although he is not happy with the way the season started, he is happy that he has identified specific areas that need to be fixed.
“It’s a huge deal to be able to identify something,” Hauser said. “You can’t just sit there and go around in circles trying to figure something out.”
