Mets fever dream or Rangers minor league pitching probables this week?

The Frisco RoughRiders aren't a Canadian football team as the nickname would suggest. They’re actually the Double-A affiliate for the Texas Rangers and their starting pitchers this week look more like a New York Mets fever dream than anything else.

Kumar Rocker, Jacob deGrom, and Max Scherzer. A Mets first-round pick who didn’t sign, a two-time Cy Young winner who left in free agency, and the first true mercenary of the Steve Cohen era who waived his no-trade clause just over a year ago will all get a chance to pitch this week and give Mets fans a little dose of what was and what should never be.

What are these ex-Mets up to anyway?

Rocker got the start on Wednesday. He tossed 4.2 shutout innings in what was his longest outing of the year. The Rangers are handling him carefully. The 65 pitches he threw is a new high. His 8 strikeouts matched his season-best as well. In his limited 19.2 innings at Double-A, Rocker has been outstanding with only 1 earned run and 29 strikeouts.

Will deGrom do any better in his performance? Since leaving the Mets, deGrom has been a perfect 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA in 6 starts. Tommy John Surgery cut him down early in 2023 and left him watching from the sidelines as his team won a World Series. One of the greats of his generation and arguably a member of the Mets Mount Rushmore, Thursday’s scheduled appearance will be his first game since April 28, 2023.

Scherzer, who shared the spotlight with deGrom for only a couple of weeks at the end of 2022, has pitched this year. In 8 starts, he has gone 2-4 with a 3.89 ERA. The performance isn’t much better than what he offered the Mets in 19 starts last year. Following up a terrific albeit abbreviated 2022 season when he was 11-5 with a 2.29 ERA, Mad Max was 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA when he was traded to the Rangers last summer.

The Rangers fooled themselves into thinking they could pull off a miracle this year. The rehab of deGrom is necessary to get him back in shape for next year. In Scherzer’s case, it’s more about going through the motion. He’s off the books for them and the Mets after this season. Scherzer plans to pitch again in 2025. Place your bets on his hometown St. Louis Cardinals using him to replace one of the rentals they signed last winter.