There was pain and anguish aplenty in the home clubhouse at Citi Field on the first night of last November.
The New York Mets had been the singular biggest surprise of the 2015 season, shaking off more than half a decade of substandard play to reach a World Series showdown with the Royals.
But now that it had ended with a Game 5 defeat, it was hard to appreciate all they’d accomplished: the second-half run to capture the NL East, the division series triumph over the Dodgers and co-aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, and the NLCS sweep of the 97-win Cubs.
It wasn’t until sometime after the sun rose the next morning that perspective set in for the Mets. Pitcher Noah Syndergaard communicated it succinctly with this this post on Twitter: “New York City: This is not the end, but the beginning of something special.”
He’s absolutely right and a part of the biggest reason.
Oh sure, the Mets should be better than the 90-win version that copped the 2015 pennant. They found a way to bring back mid-season acquisition Yoenis Cespedes, whose bat carried them to the postseason, on a contract that will keep him incentivized all season. David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud should play more than 38 and 67 games, respectively. They’ll get a full season from breakout prospect Michael Conforto. And now they’ve walked the road to the World Series and as Wright said this week “you don’t need any more motivation than that.”
But make no mistake: the biggest reason the Mets are not a flash in the pan and certain to contend this year and probably for seasons to come is their starting pitching. It is second to none and the envy of every other team.
The first four in the starting rotation are righties Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Syndergaard and southpaw Steven Matz. It’s a quartet of young, hard throwers coming into their prime. Indeed if you saw them pitch on consecutive days, you might find yourself saying ‘This one has got to be the best of the four’ every single game.
However they’re not newbies either. As Matz said this week: “We’re young but we all pitched in the World Series. That’s the ultimate. We can all get better … but we aren’t proving ourselves anymore. We’re ready now.”
Atlanta contended year after year in the 90s after assembling the trio of superlative 20-something pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Oakland has successes in the next decade largely because of another great young trio: Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. Now these Mets are bringing four ace-caliber pitchers to the table and, as d’Arnaud said this week, “every night we’re going to send a quality pitcher to the mound. . . . That is what gives me optimism.”
Manager Terry Collins sees a sustainable winner and said recently “we should have a chance to win every game.”
As good as the Mets’ rotation was in 2015, it’s not that hard to see it performing even better this time around.
Harvey was in his first season back after missing all of 2014 following Tommy John surgery and spent much of the first months trying to regain his command of the strike zone; that won’t be the case in 2016. Syndergaard had some deer-in-the-headlights moments when he first got into the rotation, but this season should have the self-confidence he exhibited late. Matz impressed in six 2015 starts and will get a whole season in the rotation. And the Mets stand to get back righty Zach Wheeler from Tommy John rehab around midseason.
Wheeler – at one point the organization’s top pitching prospect and a solid contributor in 2014 – may have some of the same command issues that Harvey did immediately after his return to the mound, but there is only upside to his comeback. Maybe is able to supplant No. 5 man Bartolo Colon or possibly the Mets can go to a six-man rotation on occasion. Collins did this last season to keep his young arms fresh in case of a postseason and it seemed to work.
Collins, too, may be a better manager. As hard as he got his team to play, he sometimes he made costly decisions because of his heart, like sending Harvey back out to start the ninth inning of Game 5 with closer Jeurys Familia ready to come on. He isn’t likely to let it overrule better judgement this time.
None of this is to say that the Mets are a lock to do what the Royals did last fall and shake off a World Series defeat by winning it the next year. They have their share of questions. Can Wright manage his balky back and stay in the lineup? Can Matz stay off the DL? Can the remade bullpen hold a lead? Will acquisitions Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker shore up the middle infield defense?
But even with those, the Mets should be a lock to contend. And they are ready to wear the bullseye that comes with the expectation.
“We certainly realize that there’s going to be a lot of people after us,” Collins said. “We get that, and I’m of the mind to embrace it as opposed to ignore it.”