PITTSBURGH — Terry Collins was in full salesman mode Saturday afternoon.
As the Mets manager attempts to implement a six-man rotation, he held a meeting with Bartolo Colon, Jon Niese, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard at PNC Park to explain his plan. Matt Harvey was exempt from the meeting to prepare for his start against the Pirates and Dillon Gee won’t be rejoining the club until Sunday.
“It is a sell job,” Collins said before the Mets lost 8-2 to the Pirates at PNC Park. “But you say if this isn’t working, this plan we’re going to have in place, if this isn’t going to work we’re going to fix it, we’re going to change it. We’ll see how it works and how guys adjust and if it’s not working we’ll come up with Plan B.”
Collins wouldn’t divulge the specifics of his plan — he still wants to speak with Gee, who is returning from the disabled list (the manager had a conversation with Harvey about it on Friday).
But the crux of Collins’ plan is trying to get extra rest for everybody involved, particularly Harvey, without shutting down pitchers.
“Would you rather see Matt Harvey pitching or sitting?” Collins said. “If you are talking about winning, you better get his big [butt] on that mound.
“It’s about the management of the entire pitching staff and to make sure that they all stay healthy and all stay pitching — not have to skip guys, not have to send guys down or any of the other things that come with trying to manage it.”
Travis d’Arnaud remains on course to begin a minor league rehab assignment within the next few days.
Michael Cuddyer was given the day off, giving Darrell Ceciliani his first major league start. Ceciliani finished 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Bobby Parnell was promoted to Double-A Binghamton to continue his rehab with Vic Black.