It’s quite apparent that the New York Mets want very little to do with giving Bartolo Colon a start in the National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Colon has had a solid season, but most of his success has come against below .500 teams.
Even with the strong possibility that Steven Matz could be left off the postseason roster for the first round, the Mets are considering pitching Jacob deGrom on three days rest for Game 4 rather than turn to the veteran Colon. And the concern is valid. Colon has had a solid season, but most of his success has come against below .500 teams.
According to Collins, the team will go with deGrom if they find themselves down 2-1 to the Dodgers after three games.
DeGrom has told the team he would be fine pitching on short rest, and the organization believes they’ve done enough to protect their young pitchers throughout the year that now they can go full throttle with them during the postseason.
If the Mets were to go with a three-man rotation, Noah Syndergaard would be pitching on regular rest as the Game 5 starter at Los Angeles due to the travel day after Game 4.
Collins said the Mets aligned the rotation so that Matt Harvey will go once in the NLDS but twice in the NLCS and World Series if they get that far.
A lot of this still hinges on Steven Matz. The rookie lefthander will throw a bullpen on Tuesday and likely make an instructional league start on Thursday. The hope is that he can throw around 90 pitches and prove he can pitch in Game 4.
J.P. Ricciardi pointed out to Jim Duquette that the Mets have plenty of ways they can play this. “The nice thing we have in place is we do have Niese and we do have Colon to back up if something goes wrong,” Ricciardi said.
“So one, two and three are pretty well set. I think four will be a determining factor as we get into the middle of next week.”
The only thing etched in stone is that Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard will start the first two games in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, and that Matt Harvey will start Game 3 at Citi Field on Monday.
The Mets will hold team workouts at Citi Field on Monday and Tuesday, before boarding a flight to Los Angeles on Wednesday for a team workout at Dodger Stadium on Thursday.
The National League Division Series begins on Friday, October 9 with an expected start time of 8:00 PM Eastern Time and 5:00 PM on the West Coast.
Are you ready?
