Keidel: When The Mets Get To October, Colon Cannot Be An Afterthought
By Jason Keidel
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While it's perilous to project a pitching staff for October when we haven't even played one game in September, New York City is clearly and justifiably giddy over their Mets. When you consider their lineup was swathed with Double-A hitters two months ago, and now just clubbed a team-record 45 homers in August, a little arrogance could do the soul some good.
We all know the Big Three -- Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard -- the three blessed colts who are stampeding across diamonds around the nation. They will be the most imposing pitching triumvirate in the playoffs.
Should the Mets make it.
ESPN flashed a curious, or dubious, statistic. Only two teams in MLB history have surged from a deficit of at least 6 1/2 games entering September: the 1978 Yankees and 1995 Mariners. It's one of those numerical quirks that doesn't tell the sport's entire story. Just ask the Mets, who once gagged an epic seven-game lead with 17 games to go.
So how do the Mets prosper in the fall rather than fall in autumn? It begins with pitching, of course, and their holy trinity of young bucks are holding it down. The question is, should they make it to a seven-game series, who's the one to round out the pitching quartet?
How about a guy who hasn't given up a run in his last two starts, spanning 16 innings? How about a guy who retired the last 10 batters he faced, striking out the side in the seventh at an age when he should collapse by the fifth? How about a guy who may carry some extra weight but also some wisdom and has more postseason starts than the rest of the staff combined?
Bartolo Colon, the Mets' geriatric stalwart, their pitching high priest, should not be instantly scratched from a postseason start. The portly pitcher has the physical and historical bona fides to make an impact.
Maybe you go with Jon Niese, just to toss a southpaw into the fray. No one has been a bigger Niese advocate than yours truly. I implored the Mets to make the roster more robust without using the lefty as bait. And it worked.
Steven Matz is another name swirling in the October vortex. But you'd really like someone with more than a handful of starts over his entire career and isn't fresh off (another) injury.
We've seen Colon implode this season. Despite his twin gems, he still has a troubling 4.42 ERA. But when he's on, you see the glittering results. And it doesn't hurt to have an old man in the dugout to calm the pups who haven't ever trotted onto the field in long sleeves under brown leaves.
Stubbornness is baseball folly. You go with the hottest guy, be it with the bat or on the bump. No one is safe when you need one game to squeeze out another day of playoff life.
Now the Mets -- or at least the media and the masses -- have already ordered their October rotation. And it seems like the only pitcher who pitched during the Clinton administration could be the victim of baseball ageism, superstition, or sabermetrics.
What's the rush? After the Mets darted out to their robust lead, Craig Carton wondered if these are the exact climes for a collapse. Despite the ESPN stat, the Mets know something about losing big leads in September. But that was another time, in another stadium.
Most of those players are gone, of course, as is the fear that the Mets don't belong. And to smell splendid in September and beyond, perhaps they could use a splash of Colon.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
