Just Mets

The Mets have clearly aligned their starting rotation out of the break with their series against the Nationals in mind. They’re starting Matt Harvey on Monday, Jacob deGrom on Tuesday, and Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday, their clear-cut three best pitchers, and arguably their three best players on the team.

This also allows them to better take advantage of the off-day on July 27 and spread their younger starters out more as they attempt to manage their innings limits down the stretch of the season.

But the consequence of that strategy means they’re leaving Bartolo Colon and Jon Niese (who, in fairness has pitched really well over the last six weeks) to pitch two games against the Cardinals who, in fairness to Washington, is a superior team and is most difficult to defeat in their home ballpark.

Now, there’s no question the Mets should be eying the National League East. The Nationals have underperformed thanks to injuries and some disappointing performances, leaving them vulnerable to be overtaken this summer. Throwing their three best pitchers against them provides the best odds for success and gaining ground on the division leader.

But, the club needs to get to the future first by dealing with the present. The point in their strategy is minimized if the pitchers aren’t going to pitch well, or they’re mismatched to begin with and lose baseball games ahead of what they deem to be more important, especially if the teams ahead of them win when they lose.

Of course, it’s easy to second guess this strategy after Colon’s ineffective outing on Saturday. After all, it could have been Harvey who got shelled last night – there’s no way to know. And, its never going to be easy with the lineup Collins is forced to produce every single day. It could easily be argued a better offense has the Mets playing a rubber game this afternoon in St. Louis, for sure.

But the goal should be to put their best foot forward on a daily basis and go to war with the best soldiers possible on the battlefield. If they lose making moves with their best chess pieces, then so be it.

The thing is, it’s not this decision specifically which creates the concern. And, it’s not the absolute worst decision they’ve made, either.

But it is part of what always seems to be the greater problem with the Mets.

This is a group of people who constantly talk about winning now, but in reality always seem to have their eyes on tomorrow at the expense of today, with tomorrow never seeming to arrive.

It’s evident in most every decision made, whether its worrying about the lack of options for marginal major leaguers, to trying to manage these innings limits, or playing it ultra-conservatively with their farm system with eyes on long-term player control, and so on.

Whether that’s true or not is anyone’s guess. But, as Terry Collins always says to the media, perception is reality, whether they like it or not.

They’ve got to make a choice which it’s going to be and stick to it, for better or for worse.

Otherwise, whatever it is they’re shooting for is going to end up being a lost cause.