"I think difficult decisions are a good thing."
The above quote came from David Stearns on Monday while he was speaking about the conundrum the Mets will be facing when Francisco Alvarez and Jeff McNeil return from the IL, which could come as soon as Friday.
In Alvarez and McNeil's absence, their replacements -- Luis Torrens and Luisangel Acuña -- have excelled, which could mean the kind of split playing time that perhaps wasn't envisioned when Alvarez and McNeil suffered their injuries during spring training.
But things happen. And plans change.
While not an imminent situation the Mets face, the club could have some tough (but good) choices to make with their starting rotation in the near future.
And though Stearns hasn't yet fielded a question about what the team will do when Brandon Sproat -- and later Nolan McLean -- are deemed ready, it's fair to believe he'd respond much like he did when discussing Alvarez and McNeil on Monday: "I think difficult decisions are a good thing."
As far as Sproat specifically, it will be a shock if he remains in Triple-A Syracuse all season if the Mets determine that he's ready for the majors. That's simply not how good teams operate.
When your top starting pitching prospect, who also happens to be the top prospect in your entire organization, is ready, you make room for him.
An old adage to cite at this point is that potentially tough decisions -- like the one the Mets could have with their rotation -- almost always find a way of working themselves out.
A pitcher or two currently in the rotation could start underperforming. There could be injuries. Roles could change.
But the Mets are in such good shape right now pitching-wise that doing this exercise makes sense. And that's even more impressive considering their rotation was their main question mark entering the season.
The results so far are a testament to the Mets' pitching lab, to pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, to Stearns' decision-making, and to the talent and work ethic of everyone currently in the starting rotation.
Consider the following:
- Kodai Senga leads the National League with a 0.79 ERA and 483 ERA+. He has a 0.97 WHIP, and again looks like the pitcher who finished seventh in Cy Young voting in 2023
- Clay Holmes' transition from reliever to starter hit some bumps early, but is humming along now. He has a 3.16 ERA, has yet to allow a home run this season, and has completed five or more innings in each of his last three starts
- David Peterson has a 3.27 ERA (3.08 FIP) and a strikeout rate of 10.6 per nine
- Tylor Megill has a 1.09 ERA and 1.25 WHIP. He has been overpowering at times, including on Monday against the Phillies, when he fired 5.1 shutout innings while striking out 10 and allowing just one hit
- Griffin Canning has a 3.43 ERA, and has seemingly put his rough 2024 campaign behind him while under new tutelage
There's also the presence of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, who are working their way back from their respective injuries and could be ready to rejoin the rotation around early June.
All of this led me to fire off a tweet on Monday where I suggested the Mets could be looking at a six-man rotation some point this summer that doesn't include Canning or Megill.
That tweet, which was met with understandable indignance by some, was not a commentary on Canning and Megill.
Rather, it had to do with an understanding that reinforcements (Manaea, Montas, Sproat, and perhaps McLean) are coming -- and that model organizations (which the Mets are) do not let 24-year-old top pitching prospects waste innings in the minors once they're ready for the majors.
The next sentence is one that the March version of myself would've thought was a crazy one to write. But like it or not, Sproat will be in the rotation at some point this season, bringing with him top-of-the-rotation upside.
The way McLean is pitching, he could force his way up to Queens this summer, too.
That means there's a scenario in the not-too-distant future where the Mets have nine legitimate big league starting pitchers for six spots.
As is noted above, things could easily change between now and then. But for the moment, the Mets are starting pitching-rich, and the decisions they might have to make soon would be both difficult and good.
D.J. Short