Dream of Furious Five has flopped
TERRY Collins was in the midst of what has become a daily routine, offering an update on the health and activities of a number of his top pitchers.
Matt Harvey has regained some of his confidence after a solid outing on Thursday when he allowed just two runs and five hits in five innings against the Reds to earn his first win since May 28. And Noah Syndergaard will pitch in a simulated game on Sunday and could rejoin the Mets soon if all goes well.
Though most outsiders continue to scratch their heads over why Syndergaard would even bother trying to pitch again at the end of this miserable season, any news of progress was good news for Collins.
“We’ll see how tomorrow goes, but we’re hoping to get him within the next three or four days,” the Mets manager said.
The Mets then went out and beat the Reds, 6-1, Saturday night with starter Rafael Montero allowing one earned run over five innings. It was the Mets’ fourth straight win, but at this point there is more concern about everyone’s health for 2018.
Syndergaard is trying to get back because he doesn’t want it to be close to 11 months before he is pitching in a big league game. He also desperately wants to prove he can be counted on.
“I just want to get out there and prove I can stay healthy,” Syndergaard said after a two-inning rehab assignment in Brooklyn on Thursday.
That should be the motto for a pitching staff that was once feared but now may have seen its best days. We would say it has underachieved, but there hasn’t been much of an attempt to achieve anything this season.
The reality engulfing Citi Field these days is that for all the hype surrounding the Mets stud pitching staff in April, the five-man rotation of Harvey, Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler and Jason deGrom will never be the fearsome five the Mets envisioned. Never. A World Series in 2015 and a wild-card berth in 2016 will be their legacy.
Each could go on to long careers. But it won’t be in this rotation. Not the way the Mets had envisioned. They have gone from trying to dominate to simply trying to survive.
There are individual goals now. Harvey hopes to show enough over his final starts to be tendered an offer by the Mets. He could stay or be released to find a team willing to acquire an arm that has endured Tommy John surgery, thoracic outlet syndrome and a recent stress injury to his right scapula bone.
The Mets have accepted Harvey never may be the pitcher he once was, but the club fears the same scenario for Syndergaard, Matz and Wheeler all currently on the disabled list. Syndergaard hit 100 mph on the gun Thursday, which has created some optimism, but the concern is whether this injury is just a blip or a sign of things to come.
Look up the definition of injury prone and pictures of Matz and Wheeler will be next to it. Matz is headed for surgery to repair an elbow injury, while Wheeler was shut down last month after a stress reaction in his right arm. Wheeler had returned this year after missing two full seasons following Tommy John surgery. He was just 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA in 17 starts.
“This is not how I wanted to finish the season,” Wheeler said at the time.
Let’s face it: The fearsome five never is going to happen, never is going to be the five-man monster the Mets had hoped. Harvey may not be here next season, and at this rate Matz and Wheeler just can’t stay healthy enough to contribute. Building a team around this pitching staff needs more than fleeting moments of optimism.