Since before the beginning of spring training, Dillon Gee has been told many different things about what his role for the 2015 Mets will be. He started out as the sixth man in the rotation with Rafael Montero in the bullpen. Then it was rumored that he was going to be traded, but then it came out that Zack Wheeler needed Tommy John surgery and would be out for at least a year. He battled Montero for the fifth slot, but was still rumored to be on the trading block. Now the Mets are going to be going through the rotation this time around with six pitchers to stretch everyone out and give a little rest due to the lack of an off day. After this time around who stays in the rotation and who goes?
Montero pitched in four games for the Mets out of the bullpen before being sent down to Triple-A, so that he could be stretched out and come back up as a starter. Montero only had one bad outing out of the bullpen, but did walk a batter in each of the four appearances. In both of his starts in Las Vegas, Montero did not pitch all that well. His first start he went to 2. 2 innings and games up two hits and a walk, but managed three strikeouts. His second outing started off with a leadoff home run, but retired the next nine hitters before getting rocked in fourth inning and allowing three more runs to score. On the plus side he only surrendered one walk, which has been his problem since coming up last season.
Gee on the other hand did not come out of the gate looking strong. His first start in Atlanta he gave up five runs on eight hits in just five innings. His second start against Miami did not go much better has he got knocked out in the sixth inning and gave up four runs, but did manage seven strikeouts. Gee confronted Collins and Warthen about how he has been treated this year by the Mets and they told him that he has put up the numbers and show them what he’s got. He came to his next start against Atlanta and pitched seven innings and allowing just two runs. Gee has been consistent over the past few years, going 49 straight starts of at least five innings, which dates back May of 2013.
Montero is not the only one that Gee has to contend with for a spot in the rotation. The Mets have two more top prospects in their Triple-A rotation, with Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard. Last year was supposed to be Syndergaard’s year, but his poor start in Vegas led to Jacob deGrom getting called up instead. This year was then supposed to be his year as well, but he has encountered some forearm tightness this season. Matz has taken Vegas by storm and flirted with a no-hitter into the seventh inning last Friday. He could be in line for a promotion before Syndergaard at this rate.
The Mets have been playing great, and the starting pitching has been going well, so there is no real rush to bring up Matz or Syndergaard, but they will play a part very soon. Montero versus Gee is definitely the bigger battle. The Mets have given up on Montero being an arm out of the bullpen and Gee has only had three appearances out of the bullpen ever and those were back in 2011 and he did not fare too well. It looks as if the Mets are trying to raise the trade value of Montero and Gee and trading one of them away within the coming weeks. There will not be much room for them once Wheeler comes back during the 2016 season with Matt Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz, and Wheeler rounding out a solid rotation. Having depth does not hurt, but in this case the Mets could create a package of Murphy and Gee or Montero for a prospect or two, which also gives Dilson Herrera a spot on the roster.