Jose Quintana, we hardly knew ye?
As rival teams have waited to see if the Mets will become trade deadline sellers, most of the public focus has been on free-agents-to-be like David Robertson and Tommy Pham, along with future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
But clubs have also been scouting Quintana through his five-game rehab assignment and impressive Mets debut on Thursday, when he allowed two runs on six hits in five innings, striking out three and walking none.
The Mets signed Quintana, 34, in December to a two-year, $26 million contract. He underwent rib surgery in March, delaying the start of his New York tenure.
Widely regarded as a crafty veteran, positive clubhouse presence and fiery competitor, Quintana looked sharper on Thursday than during his rehab, according to evaluators from two different clubs (in one of Quintana’s rehab games he was fighting a flu).
Not known as a power pitcher, Quintana’s fastball velocity ranged between 89-91 miles per hour, just as it did during his rehab assignment.
“He’s 89-91 but looks faster coming out of his hand,” one evaluator said.
On Thursday, Quintana began by leaving several sinkers, curveballs and change-ups up in the zone. He mitigated this issue by getting the ball in, jamming hitters enough to keep the ball off the barrel and limit hard contact.
By the end of the first inning, when he struck out Yasmani Grandal on a curveball, he had found his breaking ball. Soon after, he settled into a groove and completed the exact type of solid outing for which he is known.
The Mets, as previously reported, do not want to trade anyone. But the team has to win nearly every day to avoid becoming sellers next week.
Quintana, like Mark Canha and Brooks Raley, are under team control for next season. If the Mets do sell, the front office will carefully weigh the pros and cons of acquiring a prospect versus keeping those players around to help in 2024.