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Coleman: Mets' Collins Finds 6-Man Rotation Unmanageable

By Ed Coleman
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Well, that didn't take very long now, did it?  After basically one turn through the Mets' new six-man rotation, manager Terry Collins had apparently seen and had enough.  In essence, the manager found it unmanageable.

Coleman: Collins Finds 6-Man Rotation Unmanageable

By traditional, Collins obviously meant the more standard five-man rotation employed by, well, everybody else.  But if that's the case, then one of the veteran pitchers, either Jonathan Niese (pitching Friday night with an 0-3 record and a 9.00 ERA over his last four starts) or Dillon Gee, is headed to the bullpen  -  or possibly a different uniform with a new team. When asked, Collins was mum on the scenario.

Coleman: Collins Finds 6-Man Rotation Unmanageable

But that still doesn't solve the problem of keeping the innings count down or shaving three or four starts off the logs of their young pitching studs.  The Mets have been busier lately, actively shopping both Gee and Niese, and there has not been a lot of interest.  So if not a six-man, how do you go about spacing out starts so that your young aces are still available for a meaningful September and/or a possible October?  You have to look again at the other options that were on the table. Do you skip a start every now and then and fill in with a spot starter or the new bullpen addition? Or do you max out a starter occasionally at five innings, and then piggy-back the bullpen guy to finish things out?

If the Mets do return to the five-man rotation, I think they will employ the "D.L." approach, in other words, shut their young pitchers down for two-week increments like they did with Jacob deGrom last season.

DeGrom was placed on the D.L. on August 7 last year and returned on August 23.  He made six starts the remainder of the season, going 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA, striking out 50 while walking just 10.  The only loss he suffered came in the first start back against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, and if you take that one out, his ERA drops all the way down to 1.32  --  very effective numbers.

But that doesn't necessarily mean what worked for deGrom last year at the end will work for Matt Harvey or Noah Syndergaard or maybe even Stephen Matz this season.  All the Mets do know is that they have to figure out some way to curtail innings and starts in order to avoid a Stephen Strasburg 2012 scenario  --  if it ever comes to that.

C U soon
Eddie C.

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