Mets Madness — an honest interpretation on the Fab Five
Syndergaard. deGrom. Harvey. Matz. Wheeler.
It’s quite possible that this will be the Mets pitching rotation to start the season, bringing the dream of the “fab five” to life.
Mets Twitter has gone crazy over this idea, but let’s talk realistically for a minute. Though Syndergaard and deGrom can be considered locks for a pair of successful seasons, the remaining three are massive question marks.
We’ll start with Matt Harvey. He was an all-star pitcher in 2013, missed 2014 due to Tommy John Surgery, and became comeback player of the year in 2015. On paper, this guy sounded like the real deal — a perennial ace. He struggled the following year and had one of the worst seasons in Mets history in 2017. He hasn’t shown much improvement in spring training, either — he pitched to an ERA over 4.50. It doesn’t seem likely that he’ll bounce back to his days as the Dark Knight anytime soon.
Next is Steven Matz. The lone southpaw of the bunch has seen some success in his short career with New York, but has been routinely plagued with injuries. Right now, that’s not even the main concern. He struggled heavily in his five spring training starts and has walked batters at an alarming rate. If he’s able to settle down and find his consistency, he has the chance to become the lethal lefty that people expected when he was first called up.
Finally, comes Zack Wheeler, who also caught the infamous Mets injury bug the past two years. After struggling in 2017, he showed promise this spring, flexing a 97 mile per hour fastball and a 20 mile per hour differential in his off-speed pitches. Regardless, his lack of control seems to be his biggest fault, and it showed in his three spring starts. He already has deadly stuff, he just has to learn how to control it.
Yes, Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom have proven to be the staff’s aces. But can they stay healthy? Will the new training staff help to rid the Mets of their terrible injury-prone reputation?
Mets fans want the Fab Five to become a reality. I desperately want it to happen. In order for it to come true, Harvey, Wheeler, and Matz must step up and become the aces we had all hoped for.
