Terry Collins told reporters that the Mets are predisposed to having a veteran serve as the fifth starter to open the season.
That makes Daisuke Matsuzaka and John Lannan the frontrunners for the fifth starer’s spot and means that Jenrry Mejia, Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom are likely now out of the picture.
Dice-K pitched today against the Cardinals and allowed one run on two hits in two innings. Lannan allowed one hit in two scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins on Saturday.
“It’s obvious that when you’re Daisuke Matsuzaka, you come with a track record,” Collins said. “He’a a quality guy, and he knows how to get himself ready. And once in a while if he has a rough outing in spring training, you have to turn your head a little bit. Those [Japanese] guys throw a lot of pitches to get ready for the season. And certainly, with what he’s done in the past, you might have to say he and Lannan would probably be the two leading guys right now.”
This is disappointing to me… Although I already speculated that Lannan and Dice-K meant Mejia was out last month, I didn’t want to believe it and I was hoping to be wrong.
So essentially, this fifth starter competition is a two horse race.
The Mets might be the only major league team that trolls its own fan base.
