The New York Mets' starting rotations in 1986 and 2025 showcase two distinct eras of baseball, each reflecting the strategies and talents of their times.
I think that when we look at what staff was better we need to look at the fact that we are in a different era of baseball. There have been changes in the game over the years similar to the way we have the dead ball era and different things like that. There have been noticeable changes in the pitching for us to say that we might be in a different pitching era in major league baseball. This is very evident when comparing the 1986 and the 2025 Mets starting rotations. The reason being the game has totally changed from then to now. The Pitchers rarely go complete games, there is a pitch clock now and pitchers no longer have to hit
I find article Steven and it was an enjoyable read. The game has changed in 49 years. The 1986 Mets only used 15 pitchers all year. All of the relief pitchers were multi-inning relievers including the two closers, Orosco and McDowell. Was a closer a term back then? In 2025 they have already used 24 pitchers and it's only a third of the season. This season the Mets are incorporating multi-inning relievers and with success. When your starters only average 5.1 innings a game then that should be the strategy of using multi-innings relievers. Yes, the game is changed but I still like the 1986 starters better.
Coming into the season, my belief was that the rotation wasn't going to be a problem. Now, with the season more than 1/3 over, the rotation has been much better than I anticipated. A lot can happen over the next four months but my hope is that the return of Blackburn, Manaea and Montas helps with any potential dropoffs from the ones who've been there since Opening Day.
Not to make everyone in this chat feel old, but my wife asked if I wanted a t-shirt that commemorated the 1986 World Series win and and I declined since I felt I couldn't truly celebrate a win the year before I was born.
Certainly tough to compare the legendary 86 pitchers with the relatively unknown starters of the 2025 team. History will tell whether their names find their way into Mets lore, or if it's just another year.
My take away from your post is that you have never seen the Mets win a world championship in your lifetime. Since I was born before 1986, considerably before, I got to watch both of their World Series along with lots of really crappy seasons.
My opinion is that the Mets are taking a "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it" POV. Blackburn gets activated later today and my guess is that Devenski will be sent down. After that - who knows?
On an individual basis there is noone in the current rotation who can hold a candle to Doc or Ojeda, or Fernandez for that matter. But they've been the right rotation for the game at the right time. Until the Mets win another world series, however, no team, or individual components of a team can really be thought of as better than the 86 version. Yes, we have a better shortstop right now than we did then. But that's as far as I'll go.
I think that when we look at what staff was better we need to look at the fact that we are in a different era of baseball. There have been changes in the game over the years similar to the way we have the dead ball era and different things like that. There have been noticeable changes in the pitching for us to say that we might be in a different pitching era in major league baseball. This is very evident when comparing the 1986 and the 2025 Mets starting rotations. The reason being the game has totally changed from then to now. The Pitchers rarely go complete games, there is a pitch clock now and pitchers no longer have to hit
I find article Steven and it was an enjoyable read. The game has changed in 49 years. The 1986 Mets only used 15 pitchers all year. All of the relief pitchers were multi-inning relievers including the two closers, Orosco and McDowell. Was a closer a term back then? In 2025 they have already used 24 pitchers and it's only a third of the season. This season the Mets are incorporating multi-inning relievers and with success. When your starters only average 5.1 innings a game then that should be the strategy of using multi-innings relievers. Yes, the game is changed but I still like the 1986 starters better.
Coming into the season, my belief was that the rotation wasn't going to be a problem. Now, with the season more than 1/3 over, the rotation has been much better than I anticipated. A lot can happen over the next four months but my hope is that the return of Blackburn, Manaea and Montas helps with any potential dropoffs from the ones who've been there since Opening Day.
Not to make everyone in this chat feel old, but my wife asked if I wanted a t-shirt that commemorated the 1986 World Series win and and I declined since I felt I couldn't truly celebrate a win the year before I was born.
Certainly tough to compare the legendary 86 pitchers with the relatively unknown starters of the 2025 team. History will tell whether their names find their way into Mets lore, or if it's just another year.
My take away from your post is that you have never seen the Mets win a world championship in your lifetime. Since I was born before 1986, considerably before, I got to watch both of their World Series along with lots of really crappy seasons.
Which pitcher will be the odd man out, even with six man rotation
My opinion is that the Mets are taking a "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it" POV. Blackburn gets activated later today and my guess is that Devenski will be sent down. After that - who knows?
On an individual basis there is noone in the current rotation who can hold a candle to Doc or Ojeda, or Fernandez for that matter. But they've been the right rotation for the game at the right time. Until the Mets win another world series, however, no team, or individual components of a team can really be thought of as better than the 86 version. Yes, we have a better shortstop right now than we did then. But that's as far as I'll go.