Fantasy Baseball: Which Mets Pitcher Is the Best Bet for a Rebound?
Entering the 2016 season, the New York Mets were anticipated to have one of MLB's best starting rotations. Fresh off a National League pennant, they were set to have a group that contained the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Jacob deGrom, Bartolo Colon, and (eventually) Zack Wheeler.
With regard to fWAR, the rotation did perform the best -- their cumulative fWAR of 18.3 ranked first among all big league rotations last season. Syndergaard held up his end of the deal by posting a 2.60 ERA and 2.29 Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) in 183 2/3 innings for a league-leading 6.5 fWAR among qualified starting pitchers.
The only problem, though? He was literally the last one standing among New York's young studs.
Wheeler was originally expected to return sometime around the All-Star break from Tommy John surgery, but that never happened.
Harvey dealt with inconsistency throughout the year, and his campaign ended in July because of thoracic outlet syndrome surgery.
Matz pitched most of the year with a bone chip in his pitching elbow that eventually had to get removed, while deGrom also couldn't finish the year because of an ulnar nerve issue that was creating pain in his right elbow.
While the potential dominance of this collective group is still evident with 2017 on the horizon, it all hinges on their ability to stay healthy. But for fantasy baseball purposes, which hurler out of Harvey, Matz or deGrom is the safest option to have on your roster?
They've each proven to be elite commodities at different points in their respective careers, but if you're looking for the most dependable one given their specific situations, it should be an easy choice.
