With the impending return of Dillon Gee to the New York Mets jam-packed rotation, the plan to go with a six-man rotation is set to last until August.
According to ESPN, Gee (strained groin) is set to re-join the Mets following a rehab start Wednesday night at Double-A Binghamton and pitching coach Dan Warthen said the plan is to carry a six-man unit through August.
The Mets will carry four bench players instead of the standard five when the new rotation comes into swing while New York plans on having each starter make 30 starts rather than the standard 33.
With this plan, the team can increase pitch counts per starts and won't have to shut anyone down due to innings limits at the end of the season.
Gee will join young guns Matt Harvey, 2014 National League Rookie of the Year Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard as well as veterans Bartolo Colon and left-hander John Niese in the rotation.
While it may help the team in the long-term, not everyone was happy about the news.
"Even the sixth man was tough to convince," Warthen told ESPN. "It is better for the player. It's better for the organization, at least, until we get to where we feel like we have plenty of innings left in September and still have the possibility of innings left in October."
The working plan now is to have pitchers throw two bullpen sessions between starts.
"Our No. 1 concern is our pitchers, and our pitchers staying healthy," Warthen said. "We have some other [young] ones -- [prospect Steven] Matz is coming along. We're going to have Syndergaard here, deGrom here, Harvey here. Those are the guys who are the big concerns. As for the other guys, they have to go along with it. It's going to only prolong their careers. From the organization's standpoint, from my standpoint, I think it's a smart thing to do."
The Mets got off to a fast start this season, matching a franchise record with an 11-game winning streak in April and jumping out to a 13-3 start.
New York has cooled down since then, mostly due to injuries, while its starting rotation has remained a force.
The Mets entered Wednesday's afternoon game against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 26-21 mark and trailed the Washington Nationals by just 1.5 games in the NL East
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