Starting Rotation Is Strength of the Mets

It was the immortal bard Casey Stengel who articulated the power of baseball’s men on the hill.

“You can’t have a miracle every day,” said Stengel, “but you can if you have pitching.”

And the New York Mets have pitching.

Right-handers Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling and Rick Aguilera have joined left-handers Bob Ojeda and Sid Fernandez to form the premier starting staff in the majors. All-Star catcher Gary Carter sees no reason the gears of this elite quintet won’t mesh even more smoothly in 1987.

Ojeda, 18-5 in the regular season and 2-0 in the postseason, is the old man at 29. He joined the Mets from Boston on Nov. 13, 1985 and promptly became the club’s most successful southpaw since Jerry Koosman won 21 games in ’76. Much like John Tudor with St. Louis the year before, Ojeda came from another team and immediately helped his new team to the National League pennant.

“I’d have to say Bobby was a big help to me last year,” says Darling, 26, who turned a 44-24 lifetime record into a $1.05-million contract Feb. 19. “All of our starters have different styles and a great deal of teaching is getting passed on between us . . . a natural education is going on. I get to watch strikeout pitching from Dwight and Sid while from Bobby, I learn how to work the hitters.”

Ojeda, who held left-handed batters to a .150 average, combines precise control with a splendid array of breaking pitches. Darling has excellent movement on his deliveries, but his penchant for falling behind in the count and issuing walks (316 in 726 major-league innings) has strained the patience of Manager Davey Johnson.

Gooden, 22, has earned an All-Star berth in each of his three seasons by being a power pitcher with control. He just received a 14% pay hike after going 17-6 with a 2.84 earned-run average. The 1986 season--an off year by Gooden standards--”ballooned” his career ERA to 2.28.

“I expect Dwight to have a better year,” says Johnson. “When you overthrow, like Gooden did last year, you go basically at one speed--hard. The signing of a big contract caused Dwight to overthrow and he was thinking about firing harder rather than being in command.”

Gooden pitched well in both starts against Houston in the NL Championship Series, but was shelled twice by Boston in the World Series, finishing 0-3 in the postseason.

“I’m working on my curve a little more this spring and I intend to keep my eyes on the target more often rather than concentrating on squeezing the ball so hard,” says Gooden. “I realize 1985 might have been a career year for me, but if I can win 20 this year, I’ll be just as happy as I was in ’85.”

Fernandez, 24, who was traded by the Dodgers to the Mets three years ago for Carlos Diaz and Bob Bailor, tied Gooden for fourth place in the National League with 200 strikeouts last season. After a 12-2 start, the Honolulu native slumped to a 4-4 second half and was relegated to bullpen duty in the World Series.

Fernandez has often struggled more with his girth than with opposing batters, but he has slimmed down considerably in recent years. A sneaky fastball and a herky-jerky pitching motion has helped Fernandez strike out 451 batters in 470.2 major league innings.

It’s easy to forget Aguilera’s contributions, but the lanky right-hander was 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA in the second half last season en route to a second consecutive 10-7 finish. A star shortstop and third baseman in high school, the 25-year-old Aguilera was the Mets’ fifth choice in the June, 1983 draft.

“Catching these guys is a thrill and they make my job so much easier,” says Carter, whose adaptability to each of New York’s starters helped the Mets lead the NL with a 3.11 team ERA. “Each one is a challenge and providing all five stay healthy, there’s no reason they all can’t improve. Sid, Ronnie, Dwight and Aggie are primarily power pitchers, but I enjoy catching each one.