New York Mets legend and current broadcaster for SNY, Ron Darling, predicts a historic year in 2017 for this pitching staff. Darling spoke of the team’s upcoming season with John Harper of the NY Daily News.
“I really think they’re going to give you a show like you haven’t seen in quite some time. I would be completely shocked if they didn’t.” Darling said.
This is the year where if all goes according to plan, we may actually see the fab five together, all at once. As Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler all heal up from their past injuries, things have begun to look bright for the Metropolitans.
If all are healthy and finally able to put it all together at once alongside rotation anchor, Noah Syndergaard, Darling believes they would be near unstoppable.
“You’re talking about guys whose stuff is among the very best in all of baseball,” Darling said.
“I think you could see historical numbers, in terms of strikeouts and walks — or at least the ratio. You might have four guys with ERAs under 2.25. It’s easily possible.”
It would be hard to fathom a complete rotation with such dominant numbers. Thinking about it will begin to have you salivate at the possibility of returning to the World Series yet again, just a year removed.
This young rotation though has been unable to stay healthy all at once, as injuries have decimated them for the last few seasons. Darling believes how they are handled in spring training can have a long effect on their health for the 2017 season.
“But I really think that’s going to be the biggest issue. Be smart and ease into the season. Even for Syndergaard, who pushed it hard last year”
With their past history of injuries, the Mets are sure to take it slow with their starters entering the upcoming season. It will be quite important to manage their workload early on in order to sustain their stamina in 2017 and minimize the risk of injury.
“I would consider spring training must-not-watch TV. I’m sure SNY will appreciate me saying that, but the point is, I think this will be the most important spring training for young arms that I’ve ever seen,” Darling said. “How they’re handled will be very important.”
Pitchers and catchers report on February 12 for the Metropolitans, just a few weeks away. Hopefully we are soon to witness the beginning of a dominant year for the team’s pitching staff as Darling believes we will.
