Meet the Mets’ quirky rotation
The New York Mets are arguably baseball’s unlikeliest contender, a half-game out in the rugged National League East. And an unlikely pitching quartet leads them.
A knuckleballer, a nose-job recipient and the man who broke a halfcentury no-hitter drought helped push the Mets into contention. They held the St. Louis Cardinals scoreless for the first 25Z innings of the fourgame series, allowing one run total in the first three games before Monday’s 5-4 loss. USA TODAY Sports breaks down the quirky quartet:
Johan Santana
Never did a manager look so anguished as did Terry Collins while allowing Santana to finish the first no-hitter in Mets history last week.
Not only did Santana throw a career-high 134 pitches, he also did it in his 11th start back from missing more than a season because of shoulder surgery.
Feeling good is the concern from here on. Collins knew the dangers of acceding to Santana’s desire to finish the no-hitter, though it took about 20 more pitches than Collins had said he wanted Santana to throw in any game this season.
Santana will get two extra days of rest before a Friday start at Yankee Stadium, and Collins insists the pitch count will be closely monitored. Of course, it’s not out of the question he flirts with another nohitter. That’s all Collins needs.
Santana, 33, is being paid $24 million this season, the next-to-last year in a six-year, $137.5 million dollar contract. But Santana entered this season with 40 wins in the first four years of the deal, which will pay him $25.5 million next season.
R.A. Dickey
It’s looking like the 37-year-old knuckleballer has found the Tim Wakefield career path.
Dickey became a knuckleballer in 2006, and his major league career high in victories is 11, two seasons ago. He should pass that soon as he’s already leading the NL with eight wins after his shutout Saturday.
And the Mets don’t have to be too concerned about the age factor here. After all, Wakefield, a knuckleballer who holds the Boston Red Sox franchise wins record, was 87-81 after he turned 37.
Dickey might do even better. Wakefield had a 4.87 ERA in his first full season after turning 37 and never had an ERA better than 4.13 the rest of his career. Dickey is at 2.69 this year, which would top his career-best 2.84 in 2010.
As for the injury factor — what could go wrong for a guy who didn’t have an ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow to begin with? That’s something the Texas Rangers discovered after drafting Dickey (18th round) in 1996. That he can pitch baffles doctors.
If there’s any physical threat, it could be Dickey’s adventurous side. He climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last offseason — a feat with parallels to the Mets’ quest to win the NL East.
Jon Niese
If Santana is the inspiration in this rotation and Dickey’s mountainclimbing epitomizes what the Mets are trying to accomplish, then Niese represents the fans.
He struck out a career-high 10 Sunday to pitch the Mets briefly into first place, and he’s their new-look man. Then-teammate Carlos Beltran told Niese last year that he would pay if Niese had surgery on his nose. Beltran did cover the $10,000, and the procedure is paying dividends.
Doctors repaired a sinus problem that affected Niese’s breathing. Niese credited the change with allowing him to handle a more stringent offseason workout plan, and he lost about 10 pounds. He’s 4-2 with a career-best 4.11 ERA.
Dillon Gee
Gee was last year’s early sensation in an otherwise dour year for the Mets. His 7-0 start to his career is the best in Mets history.
He got nearly as much attention for shaving his head after his first loss, saying he didn’t dare change anything while he was winning.
He’s not shaving his head this year, but Gee went for a thick, bushy goatee for the first six weeks of the season. Gee said the look was more appropriate for a closer, and maybe he was right. In his four starts after the trimming, he is 2-0 with a 2.63 ERA. He’s also sporting a more conventional beard these days.