Dream Mets starting rotation for the 2024 season

Dream NY Mets starting rotation #5 starter: Jose Quintana

Jose Quintana as a fifth starter would be the ultimate dream come true. Is it realistic? Probably not. But even Quintana as a fourth starter would be a luxury if he threw the ball close to as well as he did for the Mets when healthy.

Quintana's injury absolutely played a role in the team starting the season the way they did. They had envisioned him as a consistent mid-rotation arm that could eat valuable innings, but Quintana didn't make his Mets debut until July 20. The Mets were virtually out of it by that time.

When Quintana did pitch, he was spectacular. He pitched under constant pressure with the Mets offense rarely giving him support, but he still had a 3.57 ERA in 13 starts and 75.2 innings pitched. The Mets could've really used that when they were starting Carlos Carrasco most of the year.

The southpaw allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 13 starts and allowed two earned runs or fewer in nine of them. Quintana also completed at least six innings of work ten times in those starts. He was a quality start machine. Pretty small sample, sure, but Quintana throughout his career has been a reliable innings eater. He's a pitcher the Mets look forward to hopefully staying healthy and productive in the 2024 season.