The Mets’ starting pitching is in an interesting state heading into this 60-game season. For years, they’ve prided themselves on their young pitching talent, but it’s going to be a different battle in that regard as this sprint of a season plays out.

In the recent past, the potential for any given Mets starting rotation has been limitless, and last year was no exception with a top four populated by Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz. While their starting rotation did have the third lowest FIP in the National League in 2019, one could still argue that they did not meet their full potential, as deGrom was the only regular starter with an ERA significantly lower than 4.00.

Of course, the Mets upgraded their rotation during the season with the trade for Marcus Stroman, giving them arguably the deepest one through five in all of baseball.

What seemed like a dream rotation now seems like a distant memory.

The Mets took their first rotation hit when they were not able to hold onto Wheeler, who signed with the Phillies, and matters were made significantly worse when Syndergaard fell to Tommy John surgery. Suddenly Stroman, who was a number four or five guy when they acquired him, is going to have to step into the number two slot.

This leaves a lot questions in the rotation once you get past deGrom. Coming off two consecutive Cy Young award-winning seasons, you should hopefully be able to expect another dominant season from him, but the man can only pitch every fifth day.

Stroman had a solid bounce-back 2019 season after a rough 2018, but is still yet to reach the dominant form that he believes he is capable of. With Syndergaard gone, he has some big shoes to fill, but the Mets’ success is going to hinge on his level of consistency.

After that you have Matz, who has been good but unspectacular over the past couple of seasons, and hasn’t quite lived up to the promise he showed when he first came up. Last year, he posted a 4.21 ERA and 1.6 fWAR over 32 games (30 starts) which is fine, but a step up from him would be a game changer as the Mets could really use a force in the middle of the rotation.

The Mets initially signed veteran right-handers Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha as depth or backend options, but now it looks like both of them are going to have to step into regular roles.

Porcello did win the AL Cy Young award with the Red Sox in 2016, but he’s now on the wrong side of 30 and coming off a year in which he struggled to a 5.52 ERA and 4.76 FIP. At this point, the most the Mets can hope from him is to competently eat innings and at least keep them in games on a consistent enough basis. Expecting him to be a superstar is unrealistic, but the team is surely going to be in dire need of some length out of the end of the rotation.

Wacha is a similar case, and though he is two years younger at 29, he struggled worse than Porcello did last year, falling to a 5.61 FIP and -0.2 fWAR in 29 games (24 starts). He has been solid at times for the Cardinals but hasn’t been the same over the last couple years, so he’s a bit more of a wild card than a guy like Porcello.

A return to form from Wacha could provide plenty of value from the fifth spot in the rotation. But as has seemed to become par for the course with the Mets, they are relying on a pretty big “if” in that respect. In fact, outside of deGrom, this entire rotation is filled with “if”s.

The Mets also put Walker Lockett, Corey Oswalt, David Peterson, and Erasmo Ramirez in their player pool, but those guys all range from having zero to little major league success as of yet. Peterson is certainly the most exciting of that crew, but he is still yet to appear in a major league game.

While the Mets do boast one of their more exciting offensive lineups in recent memory, that comes with a rotation that feels weaker than the ones they’ve had in the past, especially for a franchise with such a strong reputation for starting pitching.

Unfortunately, in the case of this year’s rotation, deGrom is likely going to feel the weight of this pitching staff on his back as he carries them through the season.

With so much uncertainty, it’s going to be a stressful but entertaining roller coaster for Mets fans as they watch this team unfold before their eyes in whatever direction they ultimately prevail.