Mets' aim to aid young staff with 6-man rotation
NEW YORK -- On Monday, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said the club's planned experiment with a six-man rotation was something he " ... wouldn't call temporary, but is certainly not permanent."
But it sounded a whole lot more permanent than temporary on Wednesday, when pitching coach Dan Warthen said the Mets hope to use the six-man rotation into August.
Warthen, speaking before the Mets' 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field, said the goal of the six-man rotation was to reduce each starter's regular season workload from 33 starts to 30. That would allow the Mets to be able to rely on their most promising young right-handers -- Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Wednesday's starter and winner, Noah Syndergaard -- deep into September and, the team hopes, October.
"We would like to get this particular program to lose us three starts," Warthen said. "So there's a chance we could go back to five somewhere (in) August."
Harvey and deGrom have both undergone Tommy John surgery and neither has thrown 180 innings in a season as a big leaguer. However, both pitchers are on pace to easily exceed 200 innings this season over the course of 33 starts.
Syndergaard, who threw 7 1/3 shutout innings in his fourth big league start, hasn't thrown more than 133 innings in a season as a professional and has already thrown 54 1/3 innings this year between the Mets and Triple-A Las Vegas.
"It is better for the player," Warthen said. "It's better for the organization, at least, until we get to where we feel like we have plenty of innings left in September and still have the possibility of innings left in October."
Warthen said it was tough to convince everyone in the rotation of the new alignment but that the organization is emphasizing how pitching every sixth day can not only help youngsters but also in-their-prime starters such as left-hander Jonathon Niese and right-hander Dillon Gee as well as 42-year-old right-hander Bartolo Colon, who is the oldest starter in baseball.
"It's only going to prolong their careers," Warthen said. "From the organization's standpoint, from my standpoint, I think it's the smart thing to do."
NEW YORK -- On Monday, New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said the club's planned experiment with a six-man rotation was something he " ... wouldn't call temporary, but is certainly not permanent."
But it sounded a whole lot more permanent than temporary on Wednesday, when pitching coach Dan Warthen said the Mets hope to use the six-man rotation into August.
Warthen, speaking before the Mets' 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field, said the goal of the six-man rotation was to reduce each starter's regular season workload from 33 starts to 30. That would allow the Mets to be able to rely on their most promising young right-handers -- Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Wednesday's starter and winner, Noah Syndergaard -- deep into September and, the team hopes, October.
"We would like to get this particular program to lose us three starts," Warthen said. "So there's a chance we could go back to five somewhere (in) August."
Harvey and deGrom have both undergone Tommy John surgery and neither has thrown 180 innings in a season as a big leaguer. However, both pitchers are on pace to easily exceed 200 innings this season over the course of 33 starts.
Syndergaard, who threw 7 1/3 shutout innings in his fourth big league start, hasn't thrown more than 133 innings in a season as a professional and has already thrown 54 1/3 innings this year between the Mets and Triple-A Las Vegas.
"It is better for the player," Warthen said. "It's better for the organization, at least, until we get to where we feel like we have plenty of innings left in September and still have the possibility of innings left in October."
Warthen said it was tough to convince everyone in the rotation of the new alignment but that the organization is emphasizing how pitching every sixth day can not only help youngsters but also in-their-prime starters such as left-hander Jonathon Niese and right-hander Dillon Gee as well as 42-year-old right-hander Bartolo Colon, who is the oldest starter in baseball.
"It's only going to prolong their careers," Warthen said. "From the organization's standpoint, from my standpoint, I think it's the smart thing to do."
