District On Deck
FanSided

Where Does The Washington Nationals’ Rotation Rank In The NL East?

By Ricky Keeler

Nov 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) reacts after retiring the Kansas City Royals in the 7th inning in game five of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 1, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) reacts after retiring the Kansas City Royals in the 7th inning in game five of the World Series at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
6 of 6
Next
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

New York Mets

The Mets’ rotation tops our list after the dominant season they had last year. Their starters finished fourth in the NL in ERA, third in strikeouts, and third in WHIP (1.15). When New York got to the postseason, their starters went 7-3 with a 3.20 ERA in 14 games.

The difference from last year to this year for Terry Collins’ rotation is that his starters will not be on an innings limit this season. The story of the stretch run last year was Matt Harvey and how many innings he was throwing, but Harvey (13-8, 2.71 ERA in 2015) still managed to have a 2.19 ERA in the second half of the year (best of any Mets’ pitcher).

As for deGrom, the All-Star was 14-8 with a 2.54 ERA (fourth in the NL) in 30 starts. The Mets also had two young starters emerge in Noah Syndergaarrd (9-7, 3.24 with ten K’s per nine innings) and Steven Matz (4-0, 2.27 in six starts).

To begin the season, Bartolo Colon will be the team’s fifth starter as Zack Wheeler still recovers from Tommy John surgery. Wheeler hasn’t pitched since 2014 when he went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA in 32 starts. Wheeler could be the X-Factor in this rotation and he would only be the five starter.

Earlier today, Bryce Harper told the media that the Mets are the team to beat. One reason for that is because of their pitching and Harper knows firsthand considering he has yet to figure out how to have success against Harvey (0-for-20, seve strikeouts). If the Mets can keep that rotation healthy this season, they should be the NL East winners once again.

Next: Ranking The NL East 2016: Catchers

We want to hear from you. How would you rank the starting rotations in the NL East? Which pitchers are you looking forward to seeing in this division and where do the Nats stack up in your opinion?

Home/Max Scherzer