Even Big 5 must earn their keep

ST. LOUIS — They were such contrived nicknames anyway. The Fab Five, the Five Aces or the Boys from Queens. Whatever you want to call the five former aces the Mets had been selling their fans for years as the future of this franchise, for the Mets marketing departments it was probably very exciting.

For the five themselves, it was just, umm, another day at work.

“It was just kind of something that everyone else put on us,” Zack Wheeler said. “None of us thought it was anything more than five guys wanting to go out and compete and pitch.

“Now, I am just trying to keep doing my job and stay a part of the rotation,” Wheeler added, “or whatever they want to call it.”

With Matt Harvey now in the bullpen and lefty Jason Vargas returning to the rotation from the disabled list to make his season debut with the Mets on Saturday, the much-hyped Mets’ dream rotation of one-time top pitching prospects is over after a very brief turn.

Really, that whole idea died when the Mets hired Mickey Callaway and brought in pitching coach Dave Eiland, two pitching experts who had no connection to the Mets’ pitchers. They sent that message when they demoted Wheeler to the minors this spring. They reinforced it last weekend when they sent Harvey to the bullpen.

So much was made of the five young power arms the Mets have been hyping finally being in the same rotation over the last month. A group that had been highly heralded since its days in the minors, the five were the cornerstone the Mets engineered their rebuild around over the last seven years. In 2015, they were the talk of baseball: a bounty of young, power arms out to dominate the game. There were promotional pictures, there were commercials and hype.

Now, instead of nicknames there is something more important to the Mets’ future on the field and in the stands: accountability. With the Mets’ success so dependent on their pitching, they are are done coddling and developing their former prospects.

It’s going to be about results.

“I wasn’t here for all that. Tough for me to comment or speak to the Fab five,” Eiland said with a laugh. “We’ve come in here and the guys are going to pitch and play who give us the best chance to win, regardless of what has been advertised in the past. Zack has come in here and pitched his way into rotation.”

And he will have to continue to pitch to prove he deserves to stay in the rotation. With two extra days rest because of Sunday’s rainout, Wheeler was not sharp Tuesday night against the Cardinals. He allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three.

He will need to get back on track, because the Mets have other options.

With Harvey in the bullpen — he pitched two innings in relief of Wheeler, allowing one run on two hits while striking out two in two innings — the Mets now have three pitchers — Harvey, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman — who could step back into that rotation if any of the others falter.

That’s something Callaway wants his starters to know and deal with.

“I think everybody should know that we’re not just going to hand out starting jobs because you are a starter, you have to go out and get the job done,” Callaway said. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with having that pressure on you, because there is going to come a time, if we do something special and get to where we want to get, then the pressure is going to be really bad.

“If you can’t handle making starts because there are other people who can start,” Callaway added, “how are you going to pitch in the playoffs and win us a game?” ecalling Wheeler after a short stint in the minors was another message Eiland and Callaway sent. After initial disappointment, and some tough assessments from Eiland about his performance in spring training, Wheeler took the message to heart. He worked on being more consistent with a new delivery that he started this winter to try to take some stress off his arm. He went out and attacked hitters aggressively, keeping his pitch count down and putting guys away.

“Zack absolutely bought into what we were trying to do,” Eiland said. “He did what we asked and he earned his spot.”

But he also knows that he has to keep it up, keep earning his next start.

“If you are pitching well, you are going to pitch,” Eiland said. “If not, we’re going to make some adjustments.”

R