Houser sees command as culprit for early struggles

NEW YORK -- The Mets are concerned about right-hander Adrian Houser. It's not that he's hurt (as far as they can tell, he's perfectly healthy) or that he's showing signs of a problem (his fastball velocity is virtually unchanged from last season). Rather, it's simply that, as Houser himself has acknowledged, the game of baseball has been punching him in the mouth lately.

On Saturday, Houser was hit hard once again in a 7-4 loss to the Cardinals, allowing six runs in 4 1/3 innings. His worst inning was the first, when he allowed four runs. The biggest blow came on a two-run double to Paul Goldschmidt.

• Alonso in elite company after home run No. 200

Houser has allowed 14 runs on 16 hits and six walks over 8 1/3 innings in his last two starts.

“The way I’m pitching right now is pretty unacceptable,” he said. “I need to be better. I can’t be putting these guys in a hole at the beginning of the game. I need to let these guys score some runs, and I need to be able to keep them in the game. I haven’t been able to do that right now. I’m not executing, so I’m not really helping out.”

Houser has been racking his brain trying to figure out why he has been inconsistent. He did say that his fastball command doesn’t feel like it did when he was with the Brewers last year.

“I feel my command is off. It could be the one thing I’m missing right now,” he said. “I need to lock that in, look at some video, check it out and see what we got.”

Manager Carlos Mendoza said that Houser’s spot in the rotation is not in jeopardy. As far as they can tell, the Mets feel Houser is healthy.

“You have to stay positive with him,” Mendoza said. "You have to keep working, go back and watch films, making sure that he is feeling well. We have to keep going with him.”