The Mets attempt at a number of different iterations of a six-man rotation has mostly gone bad to this point in the season.
The Mets used a spot starter at the end of April, but then offered what appeared as a commitment to a longer-term six-man rotation when they inserted Dillon Gee as number six on June 2 in San Diego. But they abandoned it before completing one turn through the rotation thanks to a poor outing from Gee that night in Southern California.
It was only eight days later the club announced they would use a sixth starter again in their series finale against the Braves, with Gee getting the call once again in what Sandy Alderson described on Friday as a “six-man lite” or, “five-man heavy” rotation.
But their latest attempt to insert a sixth starter went worse than the first one when Gee was knocked out in the fourth inning after allowing eight runs on 11 hits. In his two starts since returning from the disabled list as a sixth starter, or spot starter, or whatever unstable role he’s in right now, Gee has allowed 12 earned runs and 19 hits in only 7 2/3 innings, going 0-2 in those two outings.
The Mets have used a sixth starter on three different occasions in 2015: April 28 against Miami with Rafael Montero, June 3 against San Diego with Gee, and June 14 against the Braves with Gee. The three of them combined have allowed 24 hits and 15 earned runs in only 13 1/3 innings in those three starts.
Needless to say, their attempt to deal with resting their pitchers and managing the innings limits hasn’t worked as they expected or needed it to. It’s unfortunate the club has taken their greatest strength and messed with it, good intentions not withstanding.
The Mets are going to have to figure out how to make all of these pitchers gel and work together if they are going to continue to go to a six-man rotation. It’s only helpful if the pitchers pitch well, and each time they’ve used it, the starting pitcher has been ineffective.
What’s worse is the pitchers this strategy is supposed to protect just aren’t happy with the process – Terry Collins has said so himself.
In Gee’s case, he’s accountable for not pitching well, and he knows that. He has stunk in these two starts. Period. He needs to fix himself and right his ship mentally and physically not just for his team, but for himself and his career considering nothing is guaranteed for him beyond 2015. But it’s not helped by the fact he is pitching with no set routine on a daily basis, and he’s pitching infrequently at that. That’s on the team and the people who make the decisions both for the rotation and the roster construction.
There’s one way to get more consistency out of the starting pitching with a six-man, and that is to give each and every one of them a consistent program to follow over the course of the week they are not on the mound. These guys depend so much on routine and habit in between starts, and it’s hard to not expect volatility when the program keeps changing. Going back and forth with this can’t be doing any of them any good, and it may be a reason why the performance of the starting pitchers has been inconsistent over the last month or so (the starters are 10-12 with a 4.76 ERA in their last 28 games).
It’s not to say the game might not eventually evolve to supporting a six-man rotation, but it doesn’t happen with the snap of a finger and an assumption it’s just going to work. And for the Mets, it has arguably caused more harm than good, despite having nothing but the best of intentions for their pitchers.
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