Mets' Rotation Tinkering Could Be Doing More Harm Than Good

Sometimes the brain, or brain trust, can do more harm than good.

And when there are several options available to consider, overthinking them or trying to get overly creative can lead to further problems. The ideal route is simplifying things when simple is all that is needed.

The New York Mets have been in the midst of that kind of quandary for most of June. Their starting rotation is one of the most promising in baseball, ranking in the top six in the National League in FIP, strikeouts per nine innings, strikeout-to-walk ratio (it is first in that category) and FanGraphs WAR. It ranks fifth in ERA.

It is young, though. The Mets' proposed ace is coming off Tommy John surgery, and their other two pitching pillars have combined to throw just over 250 career innings, or roughly a front-line veteran’s workload over one season (including the playoffs). For those reasons, they have rightfully put Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard on strict innings limits this year. The reason, of course, is to avoid injuries due to of rapid innings increases.

However, how the Mets have gone about doing so has become nothing short of a mess. It is the kind of debacle typically associated with the organization the last six or so seasons, complete with seemingly constant flip-flopping of philosophy, different men in charge saying different things, limiting future costs and firings and demotions.

"

Leave it to #Mets to take their strength, starting pitching, & mess around w/ it until they screw it up. Stick w/ the 5-man rotation please.

— Kurt Semder (@KurtSemder) June 12, 2015"

The six-man rotation experiment made some sense when implemented. The innings limits are real, and the Mets should abide by them. So adding a sixth starter would alleviate accumulation for Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard.

Pitching coach Dan Warthen said in May that the six-man group would be in place until mid-August, which would lesson workloads by three or four starts for each of their protected arms. Days later and after one turn through the six-man rotation, the plan was scrapped.

Dillon Gee was moved to the bullpen, to his public displeasure, and manager Terry Collins got rump relief by not having to shuffle his arms or answer questions about it.

“This is not good for anybody,” Gee told reporters.

"It's a pain in the [butt], literally," Collins said the prior day.

Days after that, Gee and his 5.90 ERA were designated for assignment. That both solidified the five-man rotation and left wiggle room, as it also opened the door for another pitching prospect, Steven Matz, to be called up.

Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Matz has dominated at Class AAA Las Vegas—2.11 ERA, 86 strikeouts in 85.1 innings—and he is likely to be called up in July when the Mets need a sixth starter. His promotion means the club will have four-fifths of its highly anticipated rotation in uniform, with the lone absentee being the injured Zack Wheeler.

Of course, that did not come without some controversy. The New York Post's Mike Puma and Zach Braziller  reported earlier in June that the team's brass had at least discussed moving Syndergaard to the bullpen whenever Matz is brought up. Syndergaard has been hit-and-miss in eight starts, but the Mets ultimately decided to keep him in the rotation. For now. Who knows what the next 24 hours might bring when it comes to this situation and this organization.

“Does this represent a move up for Steven Matz? Probably,” general manager Sandy Alderson told reporters after Gee was designated. “But we don’t have any immediate plans. Let’s not create an expectation that doesn’t exist and shouldn’t exist.”

"

Matz will get promotion for 6th SP around 7/1. If pitches well and #Mets keep, Niese will become the new Gee bouncing to pen and back

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) June 15, 2015"

The reason all of this is such an issue is because the Mets are contending for a National League East title and their first postseason appearance since 2006. If they were mucking this up under the cover of losses, no one would care. Then again, Matz likely wouldn’t even be an option if they were losing.

Keeping him in the minors until July assures Matz will not gain Super Two eligibility, which is another reason to dislike the decision to not bring him up and put him in a five-man rotation starting now. Alderson has already said Matz has nothing left to prove in the minors. The Houston Astros are also fighting to win their division and did not let Super Two status affect their decision to bring up top prospect Carlos Correa earlier in June.

The Mets have mishandled this entire situation. At the very least, it has been a public relations fiasco, and at the worst, they have sacrificed winning games by using Dillon Gee and Jon Niese while making sure Matz reaches arbitration later rather than sooner.

Out-thinking themselves by starting and stopping certain plans and only flirting with others (for now) means the Mets have to make this pay off. Wasting pitching as good as theirs would be tragic for a franchise starved for a winner.

Now that the new plan seems to be in place—Matz’s promotion, Gee’s demotion—the Mets must stick with it and ride it into meaningful October baseball.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.