As the New York Mets try to get to the All-Star break on a positive note, they were able to begin the final homestand of the first half with a win. In Tuesday night’s 7-5 win over the Washington Nationals, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor excelled at the plate, but it was Jose Quintana who was excellent on the mound and stole the show.
The only hit Quintana allowed in his seven scoreless innings was a single by Luis Garcia Jr. to lead off the top of the third. Otherwise, he was outstanding against the Nats. The left-hander struck out five batters and walked one on 103 pitches (60 strikes).
José Quintana, Dirty 76mph Curveball. ???? pic.twitter.com/7tzPxQDPIh
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 10, 2024
This excellence by Quintana did not just occur on Tuesday. Over his last five starts, the 35-year-old southpaw has pitched to a 0.89 ERA and has 27 strikeouts over the course of 30.1 innings. He has gone seven innings in back-to-back starts, which is crucial for a bullpen that has been struggling to get outs in recent days. Plus, he tied a season-high with 103 pitches (fourth time he has thrown over 100 pitches in a start this year).
If there has been one thing that has helped Quintana succeed in recent starts, it has been the return of Francisco Alvarez behind the plate. That 0.89 ERA has come with Alvarez catching him all five starts. In the seven games that the two of them have worked together, Quintana has a 2.08 ERA and has held opposing hitters to a .665 OPS.
After the game, Quintana talked a little more about the impact Alvarez has had on him:
“I like it because before the game, we are on the same plan and let’s see how they respond and we see what we want to do after that…He’s amazing. He’s that guy that you want to play with him every time. He’s really good.”
Outside of the strikeouts, Quintana did a good job of pitching to the aggressiveness of the Washington Nationals young lineup. He was able to get 12 groundball outs and get 14 first-pitch strikes to the 24 batters that he faced.
According to Baseball Savant, Quintana got 14 swings-and-misses in the win, but it wasn’t just one pitch that helped him be dominant. In fact, he got at least three whiffs on his curveball, sinker, four-seam fastball, and changeup. He was able to limit hard contact with the curveball, with the Nats having an exit velocity of no harder than 85 miles per hour against that pitch.
It’s maybe too soon to think that Alvarez has to be Quintana’s “personal catcher”. At the same time, the Mets need as many innings from their starting rotation as possible to avoid the bullpen having to get 10+ outs on a nightly basis.
Quintana is getting hot at the right time, whether it’s becoming a top two or three pitcher in the Mets rotation or being a good trade piece should David Stearns try to do both buying and selling at the trade deadline. After a rough start to 2024, it’s good to see the veteran left-hander get on the right track and Alvarez has been a major reason why.
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