The Mets have clearly been indecisive about their plans to manage their starting rotation over the first part of the season.
They’ve tried a spot starter. Then it was a six-man rotation. Then back to a five-man rotation. All of this without any kind of long-term commitment in any of their endeavors to limit the innings of their starting pitchers.
Two weeks ago, the Mets inserted Dillon Gee into their rotation as the sixth starter, and Dan Warthen said the extended rotation would last until mid-August.
“It was about looking way down the road at the big picture, saying we plan on being in this thing in September, and I’m not shutting those [other] guys down if I can help it. That’s what it was all about.”
But seemingly moments after Gee made an ineffective start in San Diego, the staff abandoned the six-man rotation and pulled Gee from the rotation.
“If something’s not working, you’ve gotta adjust,” Collins explained on Friday. “Hitters, pitchers, infielders, outfielders, it doesn’t matter. Managers also. So you know what, I didn’t like the looks of [the six-man rotation], I didn’t like the feeling in the clubhouse, I didn’t like the feeling in here. I just didn’t like it.
“We were so concerned with down the road, we did not realize down the road may not happen.”
Nevertheless, the Mets still need to find a way to limit the innings of their starters, whether they like it or not. So, the Mets will be inserting Gee into the rotation again tomorrow, bumping their young starters up to pitch with five days rest next week.
“We’re gonna go back to [the five-man rotation], and we’ll just insert the sixth guy when we think it’s necessary,” Collins explained. “So it’s not a six-man rotation, it’s a five-man rotation where we’re gonna slip somebody in because we think maybe a day here as an extra day will help out.”
With that said, Collins was once again non-committal to continue using this kind of rotation going forward.
“This may be the last time we do it,” Collins continued. “Because I have no idea what’s gonna happen next week, I really don’t, I really have no clue.”
The biggest problem all of this causes for the pitchers is there is just no set routine for them. What’s worse, is there’s really a lack of certainty from week-to-week in terms of how the rotation is going to flow on a regular basis. The six-man rotation alters the routine enough, but a five-man, then a six-man, then a five-man light or a six-man heavy as Sandy Alderson put it means things are completely out of whack on a daily basis.
It’s understandable why the pitchers weren’t happy about this.
Collins said he’s addressed the new plan with his pitchers, and they’re all satisfied with the plan.
It remains to be seen how this part of the story plays out. This all was well intentioned, but whether they like it or not, it’s created a distractive situation and an unnecessary daily rumination.
And based on some of the things Collins said, it was made out of some presumption as well.
Just Mets 