PORT ST. LUCIE — Luis Severino is the tenant of the locker Justin Verlander had in the Mets’ clubhouse at Clover Park last spring. Before that the space belonged to Jacob deGrom.
The lineage of that locker space is emblematic of the approach the organization has taken in constructing this latest starting rotation: Extra room isn’t needed for Cy Young award plaques.
It’s Severino, Jose Quintana, Sean Manaea, Adrian Houser and most likely Tylor Megill to start the season. If the Mets are fortunate, Kodai Senga will return in early May from the shoulder strain that has idled him in camp.
Simply, why should anyone think this rotation is good enough?
“I think you have guys that you know who they are,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said Sunday. “I think Sevy’s best is in there and it’s our job to get him in that position that he can go out and do it. Megill has worked his butt off and the returns have been positive so far. [Jose] Butto, the same way. Manaea has worked. Guys like [Quintana] and Houser, they are command guys and innings-eaters. All these guys worked extremely hard in the offseason to enhance their arsenals and the returns have been good so far.”
Megill is scheduled to pitch Monday, following starts by Severino, Manaea and Houser in which the trio was unscored upon. Megill, showcasing his new splitter, hasn’t allowed a run in his last two appearances.
Of course, it’s only spring training, but the positive results should inspire more confidence than the alternative.
Ending the bank of lockers that starts with Severino’s in the clubhouse is the space that was occupied by Max Scherzer in spring training the last two years. Adam Ottavino is now the tenant. In all, the Mets boasted of having, over a 1 ½-year stretch, pitchers with eight Cy Young awards combined.
For all that hardware, the Mets received only a wild-card series in 2022.
Now it’s the idea of depth over dominance.
Hefner is pragmatic enough to know it’s a rotation that likely won’t carry the team, as much as potentially just give it a chance to win.
“Do I think we are going to lead the league in starting pitching ERA?” Hefner asked rhetorically. “I don’t know, but we have a good team. We have good defense, we have guys that throw strikes and have swing-and-miss capabilities, keeping us in games so our offense can come alive and then turning it over to the guys in the bullpen.”
Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery — both still available on the free-agent market — would certainly add firepower to this rotation, but quite possibly at the expense of the Mets finding out about what they have in their own organization in this hybrid season of trying to both win and develop players.
“Blake is a great pitcher and Jordan is a great pitcher,” Hefner said “But I really like our group and I’m ready to go to war with them.”
We have reached the point of spring training at which Opening Day can’t come soon enough, but that doesn’t necessarily hold true for the pitching coach. And it’s not because he’s afraid of what the regular season might hold for his crew.
“I really enjoy just watching our guys throw,” Hefner said. “They are throwing the ball extremely well this spring. We have found the quick outs, we have struck people out, kept the ball in the park. We have not walked guys. Everything we have asked these guys to do they have taken it and run with it. It doesn’t change for me. This is spring training and then we go to the regular season, nothing changes. We’re still trying to do the same things, so it doesn’t really matter to me.”
If there is a benefit to a rotation devoid of stars, it’s that Hefner can allocate his time more evenly among the pitchers.
“You attain a certain level of excellence and you want to make sure that excellence and that standard is kept,” Hefner said, referring to the former Cy Young award winners. “Sometimes that requires more, it could be time, it could be resources, whatever the case might be. That part of it has changed a little bit. I feel I have more of me to spread throughout the entire camp.”