Feature photo courtesy of slgckgc

New York Mets manager Terry Collins announced on Friday that the team will be using a six-man starting rotation once starting pitcher Dillon Gee returns from the disabled list, in an attempt to limit the innings pitched of young aces Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.

For the Mets, who currently sit in second place of the NL East with a record of 25-21, this rotation change will not come without some implications, both good and bad. Let’s explore how this move will affect the Mets moving forward this season.

The Good:

Don’t worry Mets fans, there may just be a method to Terry Collins’ madness. The rotation change will add Dillon Gee to an already strong starting rotation, composed of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Bartolo Colon and Jonathan Niese. The Mets starting rotation currently has the fourth best ERA in the National League, at 3.37, and the second lowest batting-average-against, at .243.

Gee had a spot in the Mets starting rotation at the beginning of the season, but after a groin injury sidelined him in early May, the promising Syndergaard filled the vacancy in the rotation. Even though Gee has an 0-2 record in his five starts this season, he boasts an impressive 3.86 ERA and has given up less than three runs in all but two of his starts. Gee has pitched well for the Mets the past few seasons and can very likely strengthen the team’s already strong starting staff.

Adding Gee to the starting rotation will also lower the total innings that Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard will accumulate over the season without having to shut either of them down completely. Harvey and deGrom have pitched 58 2/3 and 55 2/3 innings respectively so far, and, at this pace, they both will have throw over 200 innings by the end of the season. For Harvey, who did not pitch in the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery, 200 plus innings seems out of the question. DeGrom, who won the NL Rookie of the Year last year, has experienced some hip and shoulder issues this season, leading the Mets to consider an innings cap. The Mets also want to limit the innings that Syndergaard, who has never pitched more than 137 innings in a season at any level, throws this year, in an attempt to keep his promising arm healthy.

The six-man rotation will also provide the Mets surprising ace this year, the aging Bartolo Colon, with an extra day of rest. The 42-year-old Colon has been great for the Mets in 2015 with a 7-3 record so far, but let’s face it, he’s not getting any younger and could probably benefit from one more day of rest in between starts.

The Bad:

In the Mets case, the more is not the merrier, and in fact, it is likely to be the team’s downfall. Believe it or not, if the regular season ended today, the Mets would hold the second wild card spot in the National League and would make it to the postseason. In a playoff race that is likely to favor the teams with the strongest starting staff, the Mets would be making a grave mistake sticking with the six-man rotation.

Yes, there’s no denying that with the six-man rotation the Mets pitchers will be more rested and the young aces on the team will not go over their innings limits. However, by doing this, the stronger pitchers in the Mets rotation, like Harvey, deGrom and Colon, will not be pitching as often, which can make all the difference in a tight playoff race.

Every game at the end of the season matters, and if your team happens to find themselves in the playoff hunt, you want their aces pitching as many times as possible before the regular season ends. With the Mets six-man rotation, they are sacrificing opportunities for their best starters to win them games, putting them at a severe disadvantage.

Today, the game of baseball is dominated by superstitious pitchers looking for any slight variation in their daily routine to blame on a poor pitching performance. This being said, the starters in the Mets rotation have gotten used to the five-man rotation and an extra day of rest has the possibility of throwing off a pitcher’s routine, resulting in poor performance. Also, Harvey and Colon have even expressed that they would prefer to pitch every fifth day instead of every sixth.



What the Mets should do:

To me, the decision is simple: the six-man rotation has to go. The Mets should relegate Gee to the bullpen once he returns from the disabled list and allow Syndergaard to prove himself as a reliable asset to the team’s starting rotation. If he struggles, have him switch spots with Gee. But, they should not, by any means, create a six-man rotation because, in the end, having both Gee and Syndergaard as starters is not worth Harvey, deGrom and Colon missing starts.

The innings cap has to go as well. All it is doing is holding the Mets back as a team. The most recent example of how the innings cap can hurt the team’s performance is Stephen Strasburg in 2012, when the Nationals did not allow their ace to pitch in the playoffs due to his innings limit and ended up losing in the NL Division Series to the Cardinals. By not allowing Harvey and deGrom to pitch to their full potential this season, the Mets are ruining their playoff chances.

The time for the Mets is now. They have a great chance of making a playoff push this year and a six-man rotation will only limit the team’s potential. In baseball, there are no guarantees that a team will be successful a few years down the road, so why wait? The Mets need Harvey, deGrom and Colon pitching as many times as possible if they want to even think about the postseason, and if the team decides to go with the six-man rotation they will destroy any hopes that they have of doing so.

Mets fans, I feel sorry for you. I really do. After the past few years of disappointment and sub-par pitching staffs, your team finally has the starting rotation to put itself in a good position to make a playoff push. Do not just stand idly by as the management blindly runs your team’s postseason hopes into the ground.