Adam Rubin: New York Mets’ Rotation is Formidable
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
New York Mets’ starting pitcher Matt Harvey is expected to miss the 2014 season, according to Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com. On Tuesday, Rubin wrote that the Mets have a formidable rotation without Harvey.
According to the Oxford Dictionary’s website, formidable when used as an adjective means “inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable.” It is unknown which term Rubin was referring to, but it was most likely either powerful or capable.
The Mets rotation is not that powerful when compared to the rest of Major League Baseball; MLB. They do not even have the best rotation in their division; the National League, NL, East.
The Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals have rotations that are far superior to the Mets. This would be true if the Mets did have Harvey in their rotation.
One of the Mets’ players, catcher Travis d’Arnaud told Rubin that he thinks the Mets have a very good rotation.
"It’s a very strong rotation, I think, especially with Bartolo coming over,” d’Arnaud said. “He’s such a good pitcher and a dominant pitcher. And along with Jon, Dillon and Zack and whoever gets the fifth spot, we’re looking good this year. And I think we’re going to do some amazing things.”"
The Mets did sign veteran starting pitcher Bartolo Colon during the off-season. He is an underrated pitcher, but it is absurd to think that he makes it a ‘very strong rotation.’
Colon is going to be pitching for his eighth team in 17 seasons. Last season, he surprised numerous people by having a very good season as a member of the Oakland Athletics.
He had a 18-8 record with the second-best Earned Run Average, 2.65 ERA, in the American League. He also had a little better than a four to one strike out to walk ratio, 117 to 29, in 190.1 Innings Pitched.
At 40-years-old, Colon will give the Mets a much-needed veteran presence in the rotation. The rest of the rotation is not as strong as Colon is.
The Mets’ four assured starting pitchers in the rotation are Colon, Zack Wheeler, Jonathon Niese and Dillon Gee, according to Rubin. The remaining options in the Mets’ rotation have had very limited success in the majors.
Wheeler is the most promising pitcher out of the remaining three options. Last year was his first year in the majors and he was able to achieve some success.
He achieved his most success in July.
Wheeler was able to win three of his five starts that month to finish with a 3-0 record. He also struck out 23 hitters in 29.1 Innings Pitcher and had a 1.25 Walks Hits in Innings Pitched; WHIP.
The sky is the limit on his potential, but he is only 23-years-old. He could be one of the few bright spots for the team this season.
The Mets are not even sure who their final starting pitcher in the rotation will be.
The most likely candidates are Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lannan and Jenrry Mejia. Two of those players were signed to minor league deals, Matsuzaka and Lannan, according to Rubin.
Mejia had only five starts last season for the Mets. He had a 1-2 record with a 2.30 ERA, 27 strikeouts in 27.1 Innings Pitched and a 1.17 WHIP.
The Mets’ rotation does have the potential to be good, but it depends on many different factors.
These factors include Colon and Wheeler avoiding a regression and Niese and Gee having continued success. It also depends on the potential fifth member of the rotation being a solid contributor.
Any rotation could be deemed capable of achieving success, but there are plenty of rotations that are more capable than the Mets. These include the aforementioned Braves and Nationals’ respective rotation.
For anyone to call the Mets’ potential Opening Day rotation formidable without Harvey is a bold statement. Rubin could prove to be a genius, if the Mets’ rotation excels this season.