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Could the New York Mets finally have the “Fab 5” the franchise envisioned in its rotation for the 2018 season?

Matt Harvey, the first-round Draft pick; Jacob deGrom, the unheralded prospect; Zack Wheeler and Noah Syndergaard, the prized returns on trades; Steven Matz, the local prodigy. They all showed up to camp in February. They all want to become what everyone thought they would be – a solid rotation, one of the best in the National League.

https://www.mlb.com/news/mets-fab-five-expected-to-make-rotation-turn/c-269108488

As Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes, injuries have decimated what was supposed to be one of the better young rotations in baseball – one that had the New York Mets thinking playoffs. Yes, it’s a word that fans hope for every season, only to be disappointed when stars go down for the count.

Now, because of an injury to Jason Vargas, whose decision to undergo surgery this week on his fractured right hand has the New York Mets thinking about what could have been and what could be in the future.

“For years, the Mets craved a single rotation turn featuring all five of those pitchers….,” writes DiComo. “Although Vargas will not miss much time, his absence makes it likely that the Mets will open the season with a rotation of Syndergaard, deGrom, Harvey, Wheeler and Matz.”

They may not be the Atlanta Braves starters of the early 1990s or the Baltimore Orioles of 1979, but if the arms are all healthy, this unit could be very good. We have seen what Syndergaard, deGrom and Matz can do in intervals. It’s something New York Mets manager Mickey Callaway will work with leading up to the start of the regular season.

“It’s been something that everybody’s wanted for a long time now, but it hasn’t come together just because everybody’s been hurt at separate times,” Wheeler said. “Even if it is one time or so, it’s going to be fun to get all five guys going in a row and see what we’ve got.”

DiComo wrote that because of the depth on the staff, the New York Mets can be patient in Vargas’s return until he is ready.

“When you go through adversity, it builds character,” Matz said. “All the stuff we went through will make us better pitchers — and better people — in the end.”

 

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