We wanted to update this article with a quote by ESPN’s Buster Olney who ranked the Mets rotation as the best in baseball today.
“Of the National League’s top five hardest-throwing starters with at least 140 big league innings in 2015, the Mets have three of them: Noah Syndergaard, whose fastball averaged 97.1 mph; Matt Harvey at 95.9 mph; and Jacob deGrom at 95 mph. No. 4 starter Steven Matz, who has less time in the majors and is the least developed of the New York starters, generally checks in at 94-96 mph as well.”
Olney also points out that Zack Wheeler was MLB’s fifth-hardest throwing starter in 2014, and is expected back mid-season.
“They’re all young, could be together for at least three more seasons and seemingly have a chance to be remembered as one of the best rotations of this generation. The Mets have the best rotation in baseball now, and there really isn’t a close second.”
No argument from us, Buster…
Original Post – January 5
Despite the Mets’ tremendous postseason run, I’ve noticed a lot of bloggers and writers are still reluctant to call their rotation the best in the majors. Instead teams like the Cubs and Nationals are edging them out in preseason rankings, but are they really any better?
One of these rankings is from Victor Barbosa of Cheatsheet.com. He put the Mets at number two overall, and surprisingly ranked the Nationals as number one. Barbosa believed that their excellent duo of Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, in addition to their solid depth, made them the best staff in baseball.
While they are clearly a talented group, it’s one that falls short of the Mets. It’s important to note that in spite of Scherzer’s excellence, he stumbled in the team’s biggest game of the season against the Mets in early September. He allowed five runs and three home runs during that outing, which all but ended the Nationals’ postseason hopes. Strasburg also struggled to find consistency all year as he was limited to only 127 innings pitched due to injury.
But that’s not what truly sets the Mets apart from their division foes. Not only do the Mets have two elite pitchers like the Nationals do, they have five pitchers who can perform like number ones.
Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler are all extremely talented and can dominate the opposition whenever they get the ball. No other team has this amount of firepower in their rotation, and the back-end of Washington’s rotation with Joe Ross, Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark isn’t nearly as gifted.
This is the main reason why the Mets out-pitched them all year long in 2015, New York’s starters finished fourth in the MLB in ERA, third in WHIP and first in Strikeout to Walk Ratio. Meanwhile, Washington ended up seventh, fifth and second in these same categories.
The best part about these numbers is that they will be even stronger in 2016. The Mets no longer have to worry about strict innings limits for Harvey and deGrom. They will both be able to pitch over 200 innings without fear, and Syndergaard and Matz will also be starting in the majors for the entire season.
Essentially, they will be replacing the 36 mediocre starts from Jon Niese and Dillon Gee with two of the best young pitchers in baseball. Syndergaard posted an outstanding 3.24 ERA, 3.25 FIP and 10 K/9 in 24 starts last year, and Matz had a solid 2.27 ERA, 3.61 FIP and 8.6 K/9 in six outings.
This kind of impact is arguably even better than what the Giants got by signing Johnny Cueto and the Cubs got with John Lackey. Having these two pitchers for the full year improves the staff significantly from where it was a year ago.
And don’t forget there’s Bartolo Colon, who won 14 games with a 4.16 ERA and 3.84 FIP last season as the team’s fifth starter. He will reprise the same role this season until Wheeler returns. At one point, Wheeler was considered to be the best Mets’ prospect of them all, and seemed poised for a breakout campaign before Tommy John surgery derailed his season.
It’s frustrating to see the Mets’ rotation not get the respect it deserves.They are incredibly talented, and will be the best staff in the league this year and beyond.
