New York sports radio host slams New York Mets pitching rotation: "This is what you're paying them $43 million to do. Not sit on their a**" 

The New York Mets were thought to have one of the best starting rotations in the league coming into the season. They signed reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander to pair with Max Scherzer.

It didn't stop with Verlander. They also signed Japanese flamethrower Kodai Senga to a five-year deal. The Mets rounded out their starting pitcher acquisitions by signing left-handed pitcher Jose Quintana to a two-year contract.

The team has not seen Quintana debut; he underwent bone graft surgery in March. Verlander was dealing with a shoulder strain and didn't debut until May. And Scherzer was away from the team for 10 days as he was suspended for using what umpires believed to be a foreign substance.

"This is what you're paying them $43 million to do. Not sit on their a**, not have problems with sticky stuff," said Gregg Giannotti of the Boomer and Gio show.

New York sports radio host Gregg Giannotti slammed how much production the Mets have gotten from their starting rotation. The only starter that has lived up to expectations is Senga.

The New York Mets currently have a team ERA of 4.74, ranked 22nd in all baseball. To put things into perspective, they have a worse team ERA than the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, and the St. Louis Cardinals.

New York Mets need to take advantage of playing poor teams

New York Mets v Miami Marlins

Heading into Tuesday, the New York Mets sit in second place in the National League East with a 17-18 record. They are seven games behind the red-hot Atlanta Braves for the division lead.

Luckily, the team has a few series against sub-.500 teams to try and close that gap. They take on the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game series and the Washington Nationals in a four-game series, both on the road.

While they just lost a series to the Colorado Rockies, this road trip allows them to build confidence and close the gap on the Braves. The team knows they have far more talent than what they have shown thus far on the season.

It will be interesting to see how this team performs over the next week. They have these two series to figure it out before they face the toughest team in all of baseball, the Tampa Bay Rays. You can't go into that series with your tail between your legs.