Mets have faith in pitching depth, won't add arms at this time

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Mets are not pursuing additional starting pitching in the wake of Frankie Montas¡¯ lat injury, according to multiple people with knowledge of the team¡¯s thinking.

Montas, who suffered a high-grade lat strain in the early days of camp, is due to remain sidelined until at least mid-May and potentially longer. But that doesn¡¯t necessarily leave a hole in the rotation. Even if the team uses a six-man rotation from Opening Day, which isn't likely, the Mets still have seven realistic candidates to fill those slots: Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill. All seven have significant Major League rotation experience.

The Mets built their rotation based on depth rather than ceiling. The idea was to be able to stomach an injury to one of their starters without much issue.

¡°I feel much better about our starting pitching depth sitting here today than I did a year ago,¡± president of baseball operations David Stearns said at the start of camp. ¡°We made that a priority of our offseason.¡±

So team officials are not panicking in the wake of Montas¡¯ injury. Although they¡¯ve had recent conversations with starters outside the organization, multiple sources said the team is not considering a move at this time.

Among the top free agents remaining on the market are Kyle Gibson, Andrew Heaney and Jose Quintana, the latter of whom spent the past two years with the Mets. Despite the fondness many in the organization still feel for Quintana, a reunion does not appear in the offing. Instead, team officials want to give their depth options a chance to shine.

Blackburn, 31, came to the Mets before last year¡¯s Trade Deadline but only started five games before a spinal fluid leak ended his season. He underwent surgery in October and arrived at camp fully healthy, eager to contribute to his new team.

Canning, 28, was non-tendered by the Angels in November and subsequently scooped up by the Mets. Neither he nor Blackburn have accessible Minor League options, meaning both stand an excellent chance of making the Opening Day roster.

More familiar to the Mets is Megill, 29, who¡¯s been working on a ¡°kick changeup¡± that he can throw regularly for strikes, giving him another weapon against left-handed hitters. Megill does have a Minor League option remaining.

Beyond those three, starters Justin Hagenman and Brandon Waddell are in camp competing for jobs. The Mets consider Hagenman and Waddell their next wave of depth behind Blackburn, Canning and Megill, because they still want prospects Brandon Sproat, Blade Tidwell and Dom Hamel to gain more experience in the Minors before debuting.

As for Montas, the right-hander returned to camp this week and estimated his shutdown period at 4-6 weeks -- approximately two weeks shorter than the Mets¡¯ initial estimate. Regardless of how long Montas needs to recover, he should be back in the first half of the season, giving the Mets another reason to hold off on making moves now.

¡°It¡¯s not how you start, it¡¯s how you finish,¡± Montas said. ¡°Just try to go through this process and get stronger, get better.¡±