The beast is slowly beginning to wake from its short offseason slumber.
Mets starting pitching is turning the corner. Imagine how good this team will be when all the starters get their acts together.
Friday night it will be young Steven Matz at Citi Field against veteran Jake Peavy and the Giants, who know how difficult it is to bounce back the year after going to the World Series.
Mets starters are ranked fourth in the majors with a 3.10 ERA; only the Cubs, Nationals and White Sox are better. But no team’s starting rotation has allowed fewer home runs than the Mets (six) or fewer walks (23), and therein lies the secret to this six-game winning streak.
The starters have power pitches — and they vary the speeds of those fastballs — so they don’t surrender as many home runs as anyone else, and they have yet to hit their stride.
Mets starters have the ability to add and subtract off their fastballs. They are not predictable.
Braves third-base coach Bo Porter, who has the best view of opposing pitchers, told The Post that is the difference between the Mets and other pitching staffs.
“All of them have plus velocity, and from a makeup standpoint I think they all feed off each other,’’ Porter said. “There is a competitiveness, not that they are trying to outdo each other, there is a competitiveness where they push each other to be their best.
“You have plus velocity, but they are not throwers, they are actually pitchers. They have command, they have secondary stuff, so they are not young kids that are just basically airing it out, they actually plus-and-minus their fastball like Matz did going from 91 to 96. They all do that. So they’ve learned how to pitch with their plus velocity.’’
That can take years to learn, but that is where the unique makeup of this staff comes into play. Noah Syndergaard said the staff learns from one another — and they have a tremendous teacher in uber-vet Bartolo Colon.
“Bartolo is our leader out there, he’s amazing to watch,’’ Syndergaard told me recently. “The amount of fun he has out there, he understands it’s a game. I feel that some people forget that it is a game because it is our profession, but at the same time you got to keep it nice and loose and relaxed, just like Bart does. That is something you take away from watching him.’’
Anyone who saw pictures of him dressed in a Thor costume in Times Square on Wednesday understands Syndergaard knows how to have fun.
Then there is the educational aspect of being a Mets starter. Colon helps there as well.
“Bart has proven that it’s not about having a plus fastball, it’s about pitching, location, changing speeds. That is something we can all learn from him, especially me because I tend to be a little too gung-ho about throwing fastballs at times,’’ Syndergaard said. “We all compete amongst ourselves in that we want to push each other to be a little bit better to become a better pitcher each and every day. At the same time, we all get along great, there is a sense of unity and brotherhood among all of us.’’
To that end, when Matz goes out to warm up Friday night in the bullpen at Citi Field, his fellow starting pitchers will be there beside him to watch and encourage, all as a show of support.
The support does not end there, catcher Travis d’Arnaud explained.
“Not only for their individual selves to become great but they want every other guy to be great as well,’’ said d’Arnaud, who is out with a shoulder injury. “Sometimes you may run across some guys who are selfish about pitching. None of them are. They all share information. They communicate a lot.’’
They will need it all now. The Mets start a stretch of 17 games in 17 days Friday night. The Giants present a formidable opponent. Let’s see if the Beast of the East is ready.
