Mike Axisa of CBS Sports listed eight things everyone should know about the Mets vs Yankees Subway Series that begins tonight at Citi Field.
At No. 6 he points out the following about the Mets Starting Rotation, which hasn’t been nearly as dominant as it had been from April through July.
“No team in baseball has as much impressive young pitching as the Mets. Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz either are aces right now or project to be shortly. Bartolo Colon and Jonathon Niese are tasked with being the veteran mentors.”
“Despite all those impressive arms, the Mets rotation has been quietly mediocre over the last month. It’s flown under the radar. Their rotation has a 4.54 ERA over the last 30 days, ranking 19th out of the 30 clubs.”
He lists each starters individual numbers over the last 30 days:
- Colon: 2.70 ERA and 1.20 WHIP in 40 innings
- deGrom: 5.24 ERA and 1.43 WHIP in 34 1/3 innings
- Harvey: 5.60 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 17 2/3 innings
- Matz: 2.61 ERA and 1.35 WHIP in 10 1/3 innings
- Niese: 8.77 ERA and 1.99 WHIP in 25 2/3 innings
- Syndergaard: 3.80 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 23 2/3 innings
I do believe that this was to be expected for our younger pitchers, none of whom have ever pitched a full major league season before.
Part of what we may be seeing here is also the results of a dizzying month in which routines have been completely thrown off, with some instances of not pitching for seven, eight or more days, all in the name of innings caps and limits.
I would imagine that the Mets – and especially pitching coach Dan Warthen – are well aware of this recent down tick in performance. I bet, that this was the impetus for making the decision to pitch everybody on a regular routine for the rest of the regular season but with limited innings in starts for Harvey, and perhaps Syndergaard and deGrom as well. In other words, piggybacking them.
One thing I’m very grateful for is Bartolo Colon and his ability to keep keep giving the team as many quality innings as they need. I only wish we could say the same about Jon Niese who seems to be going in reverse. That’s where Steven Matz comes in.
Much of this has not stung as much and has flown under the radar thanks to an offense that has led the league in runs scored since July 25.
Am I worried about our highly regarded young pitchers right now? No, not really. I’m just as excited and enthusiastic about them now as I was back in April. I’ve seen this before with young starting pitchers and there’s nothing going on here that we need to be alarmed about.
I do believe all of this will right itself perhaps as soon as this weekend, and I fully expect Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard to get their second wind as their competitive instincts and adrenaline take over while the team gets closer and closer to the postseason.
These guys are warriors and are highly conditioned athletes. They live for this. They are in their element. I expect each of them to be as dominating as they were at the beginning of the season and I wouldn’t be shocked if they all turn it up even more in the heat of the playoffs.
So no, I’m not worried. In fact, I am very excited and look forward to the next few weeks of New York Mets baseball! I look forward to watching the team that I love and believe in go as far into the postseason as they possibly can. Lets Go Mets.
