There was something Sandy Alderson said during his interview on WFAN on Tuesday that made me laugh. When Mike Francesa brought up how well Dillon Gee had been pitching, the Mets GM responded:
“I told Dillon after his last game, remember what I told you two months ago: The other guys are getting the headlines, and you’re getting the wins.”
In his team-leading and career-high 28th start, Gee delivered another stellar performance and held the Braves to one run in seven innings on Wednesday as the Mets avoided a sweep and won the series finale 5-2.
Gee, whose ERA stood at an unsightly 6.34 after his first ten starts, improved to 11-9 on the season with a 3.53 ERA. He’s on a remarkable 18 start stretch in which he’s produced a 2.40 ERA. He now leads the team in starts as well as wins, and who could honestly say they saw that coming?
“My main goals this year coming into spring training were to get to 200 innings and take the ball every time it was my turn,” said Gee after the game. “I’ve done that so far.”
Coming into this season, there were doubts about Gee’s ability to hold onto a rotation spot. There were serious concerns about his ability to come back from surgery to repair an artery in his shoulder after an MRI revealed a dangerous blood clot. It’s safe to say that Gee has exceeded all expectations and has solidified himself as one of the mainstays in the Mets rotation.
“I have never been that highly touted guy that everybody knew had great stuff,” Gee said.
Part of the reason for his success has been his improved control and command which cannot be understated. In his last ten starts he has a 1.94 ERA in 69.2 innings with 12 walks and 37 strikeouts. In seven of those ten starts he’s walked one or less batters.
“He is not walking anybody,” said Terry Collins. “And therefore he’s saving those pitches and he’s getting easy outs.”
Gee has given the Mets a certain comfort level after the stunning news that Matt Harvey could be facing Tommy John surgery this winter. The righthander now gives the Mets a starter than can be relied on to take the ball every five days and deliver a quality start.
Once looked upon as just a number five or spot starter, Gee is now the veteran of the rotation and he gives the Mets a little bit of certainty as they head into next season with a number of serious questions – chief among them being the Harvey situation.
