Mets GM Billy Eppler: 'I Believe in This Team'

Mets GM Billy Eppler says he believes in this roster and team after a mediocre start.

After getting off to a 14-7 start, the Mets find themselves at 16-16 as a result of losing nine of their last 11.

Coming off getting brutally swept by the lowly Detroit Tigers, general manager Billy Eppler addressed the media to talk about the state of the team.

"I believe in this roster; I believe in this team and the players that are here," Eppler told reporters. "There's too much track record; there's too much these guys have accomplished; there's too much know-how."

Eppler cited the offense's inconsistency thus far and gave them a vote of confidence.

"I have the utmost confidence these guys are going to breakout."

One of the major issues of the 2023 Mets has been the starting rotation, which has dealt with injuries and underperformance. 

Particularly, co-ace Max Scherzer has a 5.56 ERA in five starts this season and his velocity has been down. But Eppler believes this is a result of pitching on an irregular schedule and says he isn't worried about his star pitcher.

“This year we’ve seen him average 93.8 [mph] going into the start in Detroit. He was over a mile per hour below that. We’ve seen his peak velocity this year at 97.1. It’s there, it’s just a matter of getting that consistency and getting that cadence of pitching every fifth, sixth day. So no, I’m not worried about Max.”

Beyond Scherzer, the Mets' rotation has dealt with a number of injuries, as Justin Verlander just made his season debut on Thursday, Jose Quintana underwent rib surgery and Carlos Carrasco is on the IL with elbow inflammation.

Eppler is optimistic that the rotation can get back on track once their injured pitchers begin to return.

"That’s the part of our club that hasn’t put up the numbers that we expected," he said. "With this group, sitting here today, we weren’t expecting to use 22 pitchers in the first month of the season. I think it’s the second most in baseball. We prepare for that but you’re not foreseeing you’ll have to use it in the first 30 days of the season.

"There’s reason for optimism. We have Max back, we have Justin back. We’re looking at Carlos here pretty soon…There’s optimism that getting that group back, getting that health back that they’ll get to cruising altitude.”

READ MORE:

- Mets Sign Dominic Leone in Search of Bullpen Help

- Justin Verlander has Solid Mets Debut

- Max Scherzer has Nightmare Outing in Return to Mets

Follow Pat Ragazzo on Twitter (@ragazzoreport), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.