Mets pitching to have “magical year” according to Ron Darling

Former Mets pitcher, current analyst, and fan favorite Ron Darling has high expectations for the Mets pitching in 2017.

If Ron Darling says it, it has to be true, right? We know he’s not one to sugarcoat things for us, or give us anything short of what he really thinks. And well, Darling says the Mets pitching will have a historic year according to the NY Daily News.

The former Mets pitcher believes there’s a great possibility that four of the starters will have ERAs under 2.25. Darling additionally went on to say that he thinks “historical numbers, in terms of strikeouts and walks” may even be possible. I mean, I sure hope so — and assuming everyone stays healthy, I can also see it. We know how dominant this rotation is when everyone is on their game and everyone is healthy.

Darling obviously acknowledged this fact that we haven’t seen all five of them out there and healthy in a while.

"“I really expect a magical year out of those guys. We haven’t seen the full effect of five studs going out there every fifth day and doing their thing.“I really think they’re going to give you a show like you haven’t seen in quite some time. I would be completely shocked if they didn’t.”"

All of this coming from not only a former Mets pitcher, but one who was a large part and a contributor to the winning 1986 team is reassuring. On top of all that, he’s watched these guys pitch. He’s seen this team play. We all know that he knows what he’s talking about, and that he wouldn’t say it unless he meant it.

Darling also stated that he had a similar procedure to the one that Jacob deGrom had done this past September. For even more reassurance, Darling’s had been done in November and he had been ready to start the following season with no issues. We already knew that deGrom was expected to be ready in time for Spring Training, but of course hearing this is great further confirmation as well.

Next: Mets Season in Review: Kelly Johnson

Lastly, Darling says he sees this desire of greatness from all the guys — deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler. We’ve all seen it in some way shape or form as well, but hopefully 2017 is the season we see it constantly.