the Mets' weird rotation

[Wynton]

Do I lack historical perspective, or is there something unusual about the state of the Mets' rotation, heading into the playoffs?

Specifically, I cannot remember a team that grabbed a divisional lead with one set of pitchers at the top of the rotation, and then headed into the post-season with a different group pitching considerably better than those starters. For the past couple of months, the best Met pitchers have been those at the back end of the rotation, who weren't even with the time when they first established themselves as a first-place team.

Isn't it kind of odd for a team that may well win 100 games to be getting noticeably better performances from their 4th and 5th starters than the rest of the rotation at this time of year?

[Triumph36]

I think the Yankees kind of did this last year, though not to the extent the Mets are.

[crockpot]

it's probably a little weird, but if you think about it, it's hard to win 100 games without unusually good performances from the back end of your rotation. besides, the fact that they're better than the front end is mainly due to injuries to the top guys, and the lack of quality in their #3/#4.

[Tyrannosaurus]

I for one wexpect bigger things in these playoffs from Maine than Glaving or Trachsel. Maine who I thought was a throw in, in the Benson / Julio trade to baltimore, has had a better year than anyone on the staff.

He's only had 11 starts, and many of the teems we might see in the playoffs have never seen him before. Whereas they've all seen Glavine and Trax a dozen times.

[wh1t3bread]

At this point I seriously hope we do not see Trachsel starting a game in the playoffs. .

[Propertarian]

This is very unusual...but something even deeper is going on in that part of NYC, as their pen is full of no-names and has beens having great seasons as well...I don't know if it is coaching or what but they have gotten an amazing ammount of surprisingly good pitching performances:

Darren Oliver (3rd on the staff in VORP; yes, THAT Darren Oliver has passed Pedro in VORP), Sanchez, Feliciano (2nd on the staff in VORP), Bradford, Maine, Williams, Mota...All have beaten expectations/projections.

Does anybody know why or how this is happening???

[Triumph36]

[ QUOTE ]
This is very unusual...but something even deeper is going on in that part of NYC, as their pen is full of no-names and has beens having great seasons as well...I don't know if it is coaching or what but they have gotten an amazing ammount of surprisingly good pitching performances:

Darren Oliver (3rd on the staff in VORP; yes, THAT Darren Oliver has passed Pedro in VORP), Sanchez, Feliciano (2nd on the staff in VORP), Bradford, Maine, Williams, Mota...All have beaten expectations/projections.

Does anybody know why or how this is happening???

[/ QUOTE ]

Rick Petersen obviously. He fixed those guys in less time than it took to fix Victor Zambrano.

[LotsOfOuts69]

Welcome to the NL reign of terror, the Mets are gonna make the playoffs for the next 7 years.