With Jon Niese likely to begin the season on the disabled list and not an option to pitch until April 6 at the earliest, a source has told ESPN New York that Dillon Gee may be named the team’s Opening Day starter although that has not been cemented yet.
Gee says he has not been told he will be OD starter yet. Terry Collins said that it could still be Bartolo Colon, and that a final decision could be made this weekend.
Gee is due to face the Minnesota Twins on Friday in Fort Myers, writes Adam Rubin. That’s exactly ten days before the season opener on March 31 against Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals. Rubin adds that Gee went 4-2 with a 2.72 ERA against the Nats last season.
The righthander is coming off a season in which he led the team in wins and innings pitched while setting career highs in strikeouts (142) and ERA (3.62).
If I had my druthers I would prefer Zack Wheeler, mostly because he has outshined everyone in camp and arrived to Port St. Lucie with the goal of being named the Opening Day starter.
But I don’t have a problem with Gee who did enough last season to earn the nod.
