Mets rotation plans for the NLCS: 2 choices to weigh, 1 already made for them

There is only one place for Jose Quintana to pitch for the Mets

Jose Quintana has been brilliant in his two postseason starts. When is the dam going to break? Quintana’s excellent finish in the regular season should have us buying in somewhat. But if you don’t feel like trouble is around the corner, you probably missed a few of his starts this season.

The most reasonable place for him in the NLCS is to pitch in Game 4. That’ll be all we’ll see of him. It would be a replication of what happened in the NLDS with hopefully the same result. This time, however, Game 4 will only end with a sweep. Because he did throw on Wednesday, pitching Game 2 is the earliest he’d come back. It’s not going to happen. The Mets also won’t move him ahead of Manaea or Severino who are further removed from pitching. 

If they appropriately have Senga pitch one of the road games, the only place is for Quintana to get placed in the middle. Senga in Game 3 might cost Peterson for Game 4 and 5. In Game 4, it means we won’t have the crafty lefty fresh for Game 3 or 5.

Quintana has never had that durability factor or the nasty stuff some of his teammates did where when the Mets were struggling or the roster was tightening he ever felt like a good enough choice to move to the bullpen. Believe it or not, cries for Manaea and Severino moving to a relief role were a hot topic amongst fans and haters this year. 

Believe it (you don’t get the option to not), this Mets team is far better equipped in the rotation than most ball clubs.