CINCINNATI — The Four Flushing Flamethrowers are ready. Look for the Mets to attack the Dodgers in the NLDS in this pitching order.
Jacob deGrom, 27, in Game 1.
Noah Syndergaard, 23, in Game 2.
Matt Harvey, 27, in Game 3.
Steven Matz, 24, in Game 4.
Youth is served.
How far can the Mets go with those four on the mound?
“With their pitching staff, they’re the team to beat,’’ Reds All-Star Todd Frazier said Sunday after the Mets’ 8-1 victory at Great American Ball Park after Frazier saw all four in the series.
Quite the endorsement.
“Noah Syndergaard is the real deal, he’s one of the nastiest guys I’ve faced, he’s No. 1 or No. 2 for sure,’’ Frazier, the Toms River East American Little League champion, said. “They’ve got Steven Matz, I don’t know how you can’t start that kid. The other two guns with deGrom and Harvey, geez, it’s lethal.
“The way they’re hitting, they’re rolling on all cylinders right now. Hopefully they can keep it up. It’s fun to watch and at the same time, I’m glad we don’t have to play them 19 games.’’
I asked Frazier when was the last time he saw a staff like this. “I remember watching the Braves back in the day when I was really little,’’ he said. “I can’t think of four guns who throw in the high 90s with nasty off-speed stuff so I really feel like they are the team to beat.’’
DeGrom was the winner Sunday and got back into rhythm, thanks in part to a mechanical tweak made by pitching coach Dan Warthen.
Making his first start since Sept. 15, the righty with the flowing hair, shut down the Reds over six innings on a day Terry Collins started his bench. In the series sweep Matz, Syndergaard, Harvey and deGrom combined for 34 strikeouts.
They did not walk a batter.
This is the pitching order the Mets are leaning as Sandy Alderson will join the team in Philadelphia to get it all squared away.
The Mets are confident deGrom can handle the first-game assignment when he likely will match up against Clayton Kershaw.
Thor will throw the hammer down against Zack Greinke and then Harvey will give the Mets an edge in the always important Game 3 with this plan.
Frazier said Syndergaard’s changeup is “basically a 90 mph sinker. Most people would die to have a 90 mph sinker. It’s a fastball that fades.’’
As for Harvey, Frazier said, he wasn’t quite as sharp as usual [Saturday], but “he’s a great pitcher and his mediocre stuff will get you out any day of the week.
“If the Mets bring it like they brought it here, it’s going tobe trouble for those other teams.’’
Collins and Warthen both said Sunday nothing has been finalized but this looks like the best way for the Mets to go and that means, of course, if there is a winner takes all Game 5, deGrom will be on the mound against Kershaw.
If the Mets lose home-field advantage the names remain the same and the only change is location.
“Could you imagine Syndergaard throwing in the shadows of Dodger Stadium,’’ one Mets official told The Post. “That would be something.’’
As for that deGrom tweak, Warthen said deGrom’s stride was a bit too long and as a result he was getting under the ball. He lost his pitching angle.
A scout at Sunday’s game noticed the change too and said, “deGrom is back to elevating his fastball and that makes all the difference in the world, combined with that killer changeup.’’
DeGrom posted nine strikeouts as he improved to 14-8. This has been a year of growth for him as he was the Mets’ pitcher at the All-Star Game and captivated baseball with his three-strikeout performance.
He knows bright lights.
“We have power pitching and that’s what wins in the playoffs,’’ veteran Michael Cuddyer said.
Power up Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz.
You’re the team to beat.