The Mets officially began their preparations for the 2021 season this week with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, and manager Luis Rojas is hoping for a healthier spring for his starting rotation.
Prior to the 2020 season, Noah Syndergaard suffered a UCL tear and missed the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, while Marcus Stroman hit the IL with a calf strain before opting out of the season due to COVID-19 concerns. After last year's misfortune with the pitching staff, Rojas is hoping the offseason additions will help bolster a staff that has already received a blow in the form of Seth Lugo, who is out after having surgery to remove a bone spur and is playing with a partial UCL tear.
"We're gonna use the word 'depth' again," Rojas said during his first media availability of the 2021 season. "There are several guys here that started games before. There's a lot of strategy we can talk about. We know how openers are being used and we can talk about that. One of the candidates to be a starter that we lost last week was Seth. But we have guys, with Jake [deGrom] always leading our staff and a lot of other guys like [Carlos Carrasco] and Stroman…we have a lot of guys that can be potential depth starters for us and can work to be a part of a rotation."
deGrom is the unquestionable ace, with newcomer Carrasco joining Stroman in the middle of the rotation, but the back end still needs sorting out, especially with the Mets still reportedly seeking outside help in the form of Taijuan Walker or Jake Odorizzi. But if the Mets staff is set for 2021, Rojas is ready to get creative in eating up innings during what hopes to be the first full season since 2019.
"There are different strategies as we go on a day-to-day basis," Rojas said. "I know it's been talked about before that there is never too much pitching. We've stayed active through the offseason on a daily basis from a front office standpoint, but there's a lot of depth."
The Mets are obviously hoping for a healthier start to the season, but without a crystal ball, all Rojas can rely on is his depth chart, where he sees plenty of suitable options to help New York claim the NL East title.
"There's some things that happen that are out of your control," Rojas said. "I can't say I have a feel of if it's going to happen or not, but you feel pretty good about how those guys look when you see the roster on paper, even though we lost Lugo. We'll see how those guys keep building up in spring training…and I can't wait to see them start pitching out there so we have a visual of what can happen and we can make some decisions."
Losing Lugo isn't an ideal start, but with both Syndergaard and Robert Gsellman throwing side sessions on Wednesday, Rojas is hopeful that things will continue to look up for a staff that will be crucial to the Mets' playoff hopes in 2021.
"We've already had some challenges with Lugo, not saying we were committed yet that he would be a starter, but last year we had challenges losing Noah and before the season started when we lost Stroman too when he opted out," Rojas said. "But adding Carrasco and Lucchesi, there's more depth."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch
