Ernest Dove - Future Bullpen Looking More Like Future Rotation for Mets

  A funny thing happened along the way of the Rafael Montero and Jacob deGrom journey from the Las Vegas 51s rotation to the New York Mets 2014 bullpen.  They watched as Jennry Mejia struggled to get through 5 innings, and the always dependable Dillon Gee hit the DL.  Now, all of a sudden, two prospects found themselves at Citi Field, in May instead of June, and facing the New York Yankees in the subway series. No pressure.

  Let's start with the 23 year old Montero.  He is, who maybe we though he was.  A kid who throws strikes. Not overpowering, but able to get movement on his pitches, throw a nice change up, and utilize his defense to help keep him steady. In a season already full of turmoil, in regards to the bullpen, Montero was to quickly work on becoming a 2014 solution to the problem. 

  All along the way, the kid who has quickly jumped right through the Mets minor league system, has continued to show an ability to start.  However, be it his fastball (which God forbid a future

Mets prospect doesn't throw 95+) not being hard enough, or his physical appearance (wouldn't exactly qualify in the heavyweight division in a boxing ring), Montero seems to have quietly (by some, I guest) be seen as more of a future solid bullpen arm.

  However, Montero took the mound, in one of the biggest and brightest stages possible, and pitched extremely well overall, for 6 hard fought innings.  (oh, and we might try and finally give some credit to Terry Collins for leaving the kid in to take the mound in the 6th with a pitch count of 97).  Maybe, just maybe, he met and exceeded expectations.  He may have worked harder then he could have, with the high pitch count, based on his history of strike throwing. And his projected pitch to contact did lead to 2 homers, but there was nobody on base for those homers.  That's because Montero was busy getting everybody else out, holding the mighty Yankees to 7 total base runners, and he fell victim took a veteran power hitter taking advantage of a first pitch strike in the 6th inning. And that was it.

  When it's all said and done, he basically ended up going one more inning then Mejia.  And I guess we can argue all day about what may have happened if he was able to go into the 7th, and give the Yankees more looks at him.    But you can't deny that 7 base runner/ 6 inning stat.  And you can't argue against a kid who, again, in the limelight, and over 100 pitches, was able to take down 3 straight Yankee hitters in that 6th inning to finish strong.

  Time will tell if Montero becomes the next Pedro Martinez, or simply a possible future steady 7th/8th inning guy.  But, I think one main thing we learned is Montero may not be the kind of arm you want to trade, for another potential bat.

  Speaking of possible future trade bait, how many of you saw that deGrom promotion coming?  I know I honestly had no faith in my Mets, and their management, going ahead and calling up deGrom, instead of simply throwing out the veteran Dice K to take the Mound last night. And, sure enough, all this young man did was go 7 strong, solid innings, giving up one hard luck run.   deGrom was able to dial up to 95mph when needed, showed nice selection and location of pitches throughout the night, and wasn't afraid to throw breaking stuff with a 2-2, 3-1 count.  For the most part, he kept the ball down, induced a lot of timely ground balls, and even showed a little defensive ability, along a sweet swing of the bat (finally the 0-for-season pitching staff hitting is over).

  So, now what?  Will our rotation quickly become the April first base logjam, or the current outfield musical chairs nightmare?  I am obviously hoping that Dillon Gee comes back strong, and healthy, as soon as possible.  And since Colon will not be released (for 20 million reasons), I'm hoping he can put together a solid couple of future starts, what are we left with?

  During this Terry Collins/Sandy Alderson era, they continue to publicly preach the idea of "you perform, you play" mentality. And, well, Montero and deGrom both just performed.