Palladino: Mets Can't Go Wrong With Harvey Or DeGrom At Top Of Rotation
By Ernie Palladino
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At this early point in spring training, Terry Collins has to consider himself the luckiest manager in town.
Not only have his National League champion Mets become the darlings of the New York media, but the raging question in the clubhouse has little to do with creaky pitchers, 40-year-old designated hitters, or busted-up first basemen, for that matter.
While Joe Girardi and his staff go into every workout with some of the same rotation issues from last season, wondering how long Masahiro Tanaka's right elbow and aging CC Sabathia's knee will hold out, Collins' crew ponders such weighty subjects as to who will emerge as the Mets' true ace, Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom.
Such are the rewards of a youthful, productive roster. Unless some nefarious injury bug has poised itself to strike once the Grapefruit League schedule starts Thursday, this is stacking up as a delightful spring for Collins. That changes, of course, if Yoenis Cespedes or Michael Conforto or Lucas Duda or Curtis Granderson somehow fall out of the picture.
But for now, everything is right with Collins' world. Rainbows and lollipops everywhere. Even Zack Wheeler, not due back until midseason, got his foot on the dirt for a few easy tosses, an early and successful test of his Tommy John-repaired right elbow.
Collins should enjoy this embarrassment of riches while it lasts because, inevitably, it doesn't. Seasons start. Things go wrong, sometimes horribly so. The unexpected looms over every positive expectation. But the way things stand now, Collins and his lieutenants have the leisure to debate the pleasant issue of which 95 MPH-plus arm will be considered the Mets' ace and which will take a backseat at No. 2.
It's kind of like Donald Trump and Melania arguing Tiffany's against Cartier's. They couldn't go wrong with either.
Same with Collins.
In deGrom he has a live-armed, 27-year-old who came off a Rookie of the Year performance in 2014 to post a 14-8, 2.54 mark. Sure, the Royals took him apart in the World Series, but he won three postseason games before that after pitching a career-high 191 innings in the regular season.
Pitching coach Danny Warthen told The Daily News that deGrom wore down after 180 innings last year before the adrenalin of the postseason took over. His fastball rose and lost the movement that had hitters chasing. But Warthen said that keeping a close eye on pitch count should enable deGrom to put in 220 innings this year without pooping out.
As for Harvey, the fiery 26-year-old probably won't be talking himself into too many more extended performances if the bullpen is warmed and ready. Collins learned that lesson the hard way against the Royals in Game 5 last year. But there's no denying the 13-8, 2.71 record Harvey put up his first season after Tommy John surgery despite the absence of his lights-out fastball.
That should return this season, along with the slider that complements it so well. With it should come a rise from the 189 1/3 innings to Warthen's 220 goal, and a marked increase from 188 strikeouts.
Assuming a refurbished lineup provides a little run support from the get-go for both pitchers, the won-loss numbers should also experience a healthy uptick.
If all that happens, the real question is not about whether Harvey or deGrom becomes the true ace. It's whether it really matters at all. If they become the next edition of the Clayton Kershaw/Zack Greinke combo whose individual 20-win potential keeps fans entertained in Chavez Ravine, who really cares about ace and sub-ace designations?
Where the Yanks and just about every other team in baseball get all giddy when one good pitcher stays in one piece to lead, the Mets have two. Three, maybe, if Noah Syndergaard has a monster year.
And if Collins really wants to let his imagination go wild, throw Steven Matz in there for a Jim Palmer/Mike Cuellar/Dave McNally/Pat Dobson 20-win Orioles reprise from 1971. But that's stretching it, given the limitations of five-man rotations and modern bullpen usage.
The point is, Collins currently has an embarrassment of riches in deGrom and Harvey that other managers, including that guy in the Bronx, would envy.
He should enjoy it while it lasts.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
