After the Mets acquired the two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana in a trade with the Minnesota Twins, they not only became a legitimate threat to contest the World Series Champions the Boston Red Sox’s to be the top team in the MLB, but now have one of the better pitching staffs in the National League (with a few tweaks) and have no excuse not to make the playoffs.
After Santana leading off the rotation as the number one starter, following up is three-time Cy Young Award winner Pedro Martinez who only started 5 games last year and has had numerous injuries since joining the Mets. Pedro has changed his style of pitching and no longer has the fire he used to but now has become a crafty pitcher who can get outs and strikeouts without hard stuff. The number three starter is most likely pointing to the righty John Maine who put up good numbers for the Mets last year, having a record of 15-10 in 32 starts and throwing 180 strikeouts, although he had a fairly high ERA of 3.91. The number four starter will be the 26 year old, left-hander Oliver Perez who last year had stats very similar to Maine- 15-10 record, 174 strikeouts, and a 3.56 ERA. So far Perez has a 4.61 ERA this spring in four starts, but has steadily getting better in each game. Finishing off the starting rotation is likely to be veteran Orlando Hernandez. The 42-year-old will enter his 10th season and looks to improve his health as spring training continues so he can back into his old form from the past few seasons. Mets GM Omar Minaya said Hernandez would not pitch out of the bullpen, although 24 year old Mike Pelfrey will battle “El Duque” for the fifth spot.
