In my previous post, we took an in-depth look at the Mets everyday lineup. It is clear that if everyone remains healthy, the Mets could put up some pretty big numbers with the bat; however, the big question mark that remains with this baseball team is pitching.
Johan Santana will miss the first half of the year after season-ending shoulder surgery last September.
There were reports a few weeks ago that Santana would miss the entire 2011 season, but the lefty disputed those claims, stating that he is on pace to return to the Mets in June at the earliest.
If the Mets had Johan Santana healthy, this would be a pretty good looking rotation, but without him, everyone has to move up in the rotation, and in some cases, will have to match up against the aces of the world like Roy Halladay, Tim Hudson, Josh Johnson and Tim Lincecum.
It will be a very difficult assignment for the new Mets rotation in 2011, an assignment that many predict will fail badly.
Let’s meet the new rotation, and then take a look at the bullpen in part II of our 2011 Mets preview.