The Starting Rotation
1. RHP Noah Syndergaard
2. RHP Jacob deGrom
3. RHP Matt Harvey
4. LHP Steven Matz
5. RHP Zack Wheeler
This is widely and obviously known as the strongest part of the Mets’ roster. From top to bottom, it may even be the best rotation is baseball, while none of the quintet are over the age of 28.Syndergaard blossomed last season, taking over the ‘ace of the staff’ role for most of the year. But the last couple months of 2016 were something special for the 24-year-old, when he twirled sub-2.90 ERAs during that time.
His sophomore season culminated in a home Wild Card Game start against postseason legend Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. Syndy seriously rose to the occasion though, tossing seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and only two hits and three walks allowed. If he hadn’t already, this start truly showed the rest of the league that the 6-foot-6 Thor is now one of the best arms in the game.
Although the rest of the rotation are all major league proven arms that were all also once top prospects, each is coming off a major injury from last season or before.
Wheeler’s absence goes the farthest back, having missed two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery. He was projected at the dawn of last season to be ready to return to Queens by early July, but that homecoming never came, and now, even with all his long known talent, his production remains a question mark.
Harvey has been struck by the injury bug more and more as his career has gone on, having started only 17 games last season after pitching 216 innings in the 2015 regular and postseasons combined – nearly 40 innings more than his previous MLB career high. But he is expected to make a full recovery for Opening Day after offseason thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.
deGrom went down in very early September last season with ulnar nerve damage in his throwing elbow after a very solid, but uncharacteristically inconsistent year in the rotation. The deGrominator had surgery recently and is also expected to be in playing shape come next April.
During his 22 starts last season – the second highest total of his six-year professional career – Matz showed flashes of real greatness, using his mid-to-upper 90s fastball and sharp curveball to get nearly a strikeout per inning. But injuries have been a major issue for him as well, cutting each of his last two seasons short. A bone spur that was irritating his elbow was removed in October and will hopefully make his 2017 season go a bit smoother.
Starters Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo were vital cogs last season that helped push the Mets to the postseason after all the above injuries struck literally one after another towards the end of 2016. Alderson has made it clear that should any of the above five get hurt, or if manager Terry Collins wants to skip a man or use a six-man rotation, then Gsellman and Lugo will be first in line as replacements.
