Mets should start with the old (Bartolo Colon) and new (Steven Matz)
Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon during photo day on March 1, 2016 in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa
Terry Collins will send someone to the mound in Kansas City to start the Mets’ season on April 3 — and will spend much of the next month answering questions about which young gun that someone will be.
Here’s an unsolicited suggestion, TC: Be bold and go old.
As in Bartolo Colon 42 years old. And not only that, here is who should start Game 2 against the Royals two days later: Stony Brook’s own Steven Matz.
There, I said it. And I mean it, even though the odds of Collins taking my advice are roughly equal to the odds he will start Jeurys Familia on Opening Night to achieve some sort of cosmic closure for, well, you know.
Before we go on, a confession: This was not originally my idea. A friend in the sports business proposed it but wishes to remain anonymous, perhaps fearing scorn and opprobrium from the baseball community.
It makes good sense, though.
Most importantly for this reason: The Mets’ first week is screwy, schedule-wise.
They play Sunday night on ESPN, before which the Royals will raise their World Series banner, then in late afternoon Tuesday, before which the Royals will receive their World Series rings, doubling their rubbing-it-in pleasure.
The Mets then have a two-day break before opening at home against the Phillies April 8.
Why start off the season by forcing two of the Big Three of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard to maneuver around that sort of schedule?
Even if the Mets are done worrying about innings limits with those guys, they still will and should be cognizant of protecting them from risky situations.
Better simply to treat the Royals miniseries as a secondary concern and let those three start the three games against the Phillies at home and then be on their merry, five-days-rest ways.
If Colon and Matz simply split against the Royals, the Mets will come home in fine shape and the experiment will have been a success.
Other reasons to consider it:
—— Colon is an experienced Opening Day starter. In fact, he got the nod just last year — to the surprise of many — in a season that turned out pretty well for the Mets.
Colon, then a mere pup of 41, allowed one run on three hits — and struck out eight! — in six innings to beat Max Scherzer and the then-division favorite Nationals, 3-1.
The victory improved Colon’s career Opening Day record to 5-1 with a 2.62 ERA.
—— Pitching in Kansas City means Colon will not have to bat. Or run the bases.
—— Night games in April often are cold, windy and not conducive to keeping pitchers healthy. If Colon takes that bullet for the staff April 3, the Mets do not have to worry about another night game until six days later at Citi Field.
—— Going with Colon allows Collins to avoid picking between Harvey and deGrom and thus potential bruised egos. Colon is Switzerland.
—— It is true that for dramatic purposes (and ESPN’s purposes) it would be fun to have Harvey climb back onto the horse that threw him in Game 5 of the World Series — and he no doubt will want to do so — but is that really necessary?
Collins can avoid days worth of awkward media questions and hype simply by keeping Harvey away from the Royals and focusing him on things that matter more, like beating a National League East opponent at home.
Keeping Harvey and deGrom on the shelf in Kansas City in theory could cost them each a start in their season total, but the goal here is not maximizing their starts, it’s maximizing their Octobers.
Want a piece of the Royals, Mets players and Mets fans? Get it then, not now.
—— The Mets still can fulfill their ticket-selling needs by going with Harvey in the home opener, then squeezing another start out of him on the first homestand five days later, April 13 against the Marlins.
Wednesday afternoon games in April are a bit of an attendance challenge. Harvey can help.
That’s my pitch, Terry. It’s up to you now. As we all learned in the ninth inning last Nov. 1, doing something unpopular sometimes is the right thing to do.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
