Back in December, when it looked like Carlos Correa would be a Met, owner Steve Cohen told The Post’s Jon Heyman of the star infielder, “We needed one more thing, and this is it. … I feel like our pitching was in good shape. We needed one more hitter. This puts us over the top.”
Correa’s troublesome ankle ended up scuttling the deal with the Mets, but Cohen’s premise that the team’s “pitching was in good shape,” which seemed like a given at the time following the signing of Justin Verlander to add to the top of a rotation that already included Max Scherzer, is now in question.
The regular season is now more than 40 percent over and the pair of veteran aces have failed to live up to expectations.
Both have shown flashes of what’s made them great in the past — and what enticed Cohen into investing over $86 million in them just this season alone — but neither has come close to meeting expectations.
Most recently, Scherzer struggled against the Yankees and blew a four-run lead in Tuesday’s loss to open the Subway Series.
Verlander was solid in the Mets’ win over the Yankees on Wednesday in Queens, but still hasn’t put together back-to-back solid outings since his first two starts of the season over a month ago.
Their numbers are worrisome, although some more deceiving than others, and scouts believe the Mets should be concerned, given the age of their top two starters, but most also believe all is not lost, yet.
“Any time you have a pitcher that’s logged as many innings as the two of them, with that much wear and tear, you have to consider the worst,’’ said one American League scout who’s seen them pitch within the last month. “But until they’re done, I wouldn’t bet against them figuring it out. They’re two of the smartest and most competitive pitchers I’ve ever seen. If anyone can turn it around, it’s the two of them.”
A National League scout had similar thoughts.
“They’re not getting clobbered every time out there, so they still have talent,’’ the NL scout said. “But it’s definitely fair to wonder about their consistency, since they haven’t been able to put it all together for any stretches this year. You might just have to hope they go on a good run at the same time when it counts.”
And both scouts noted that Scherzer and Verlander have hit rough patches before and bounced back. Doing so at this stage of their careers, though, could be a tougher task.
Scherzer, for instance, had a rough 2020, a season that was impacted by COVID.
This time around, Scherzer — who turns 39 next month — hasn’t had to deal with a shortened spring training or any other distractions.
Instead, he’s just dealing with a slider that’s getting hammered and a four-seam fastball that’s not as effective as it’s been in the past.
Batters are slugging a whopping .660 against Scherzer’s slider, compared to just .232 last year, according to Statcast. It’s dropped about 1.5 mph since 2022.
“If he can’t fix that, he’s in trouble,’’ the AL scout said.
In his last two starts — both losses — Scherzer allowed 11 earned runs and 18 hits in just nine innings, following a promising four-start stretch when he gave up just three earned runs in 25 innings, all Mets wins.
The advanced metrics do provide a potential ray of hope for Scherzer.
While his 4.45 ERA would be the worst of his career, he’s got an expected ERA of 3.60, an unusual split that didn’t move the scouts’ opinions.
“He’s getting hit harder this year,’’ the NL scout said. “There’s no doubt about that.”
As for Verlander, the drop in his strikeout rate that didn’t bother him during his Cy Young season with the Astros last season has worsened (down to 7.5 per nine innings), and after leading the majors in WHIP in each of his last three full, healthy seasons, Verlander has more pedestrian WHIP of 1.22 this year, to go along with an ERA that jumped from a miniscule 1.75 to 4.40 since last season.
Like Scherzer, Verlander’s four-seamer isn’t helping him, with batters slugging .517 against the pitch compared to .285 in 2022, and they’re getting to Verlander’s curveball, as well, slugging .571 against it versus .267 last year.
“The fastball just seems a little off, but the curve needs work,’’ the AL scout said.
Verlander threw his slider more than normal in Wednesday’s win, perhaps a sign of changes to come.
“I think they will be OK as long as they stay healthy,’’ the NL scout. “But the longer this goes on, the more worried I’d get.’’