Mets’ solution is to wait — as their golden ticket implodes

ATLANTA — For a team so associated with dominant starting pitching, the Mets haven’t received much of it.

Injuries to Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Seth Lugo that have swelled the size of the team’s disabled list are only part of the story. Underwhelming early results from Matt Harvey, Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler are the rest of the equation, as question mark Rafael Montero prepares to join the rotation Friday.

“I’m not worried yet,” pitching coach Dan Warthen said Wednesday at SunTrust Park before the Mets faced the Braves. “Frustrated and mad at times, but not worried.”

Entering play, the Mets’ 4.56 ERA from starting pitchers ranked 24th in the major leagues. Gsellman (6.75), Harvey (5.14) and Wheeler (4.78) were the three weakest links. Jacob deGrom (2.84), who started against the Braves on Wednesday, was the only current member of the rotation pitching at a high level.

Syndergaard was rolling along that same path until sustaining a partially torn lat muscle Sunday that is expected to keep him sidelined for at least two months. Matz and Lugo haven’t thrown a pitch in the major leagues this season as they attempt to recover from elbow discomfort and a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament, respectively.

Harvey and Wheeler have both shown impressive velocity in their respective returns to the mound, but neither is yet receiving the kind of results for which the Mets had hoped. Harvey missed the second half of last season after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome and Wheeler spent two years rehabbing from Tommy John surgery before returning to the Mets in April. Though deGrom underwent surgery in September to relocate the ulnar nerve in his elbow, his return has gone relatively smoothly.

“You always hope in your heart, in your mind, that it’s going to be explosive right out of the gate, it always doesn’t happen,” manager Terry Collins said. “But there are some big steps forward these guys have taken. Wheeler has taken some big steps. Harv, [Monday], you saw the velocity is back.

“Now it’s about reining in the other parts of pitching, the location of your other pitches so that we hit our stride, hopefully this month sometime, that these guys are pitching the way they are capable of pitching, the way they know they can pitch.”

Matz and Lugo have been throwing from the slope of the mound in Port St. Lucie, and team brass is cautiously optimistic both might be ready before the month’s end.

Collins mentioned the possibility of eventually inserting a sixth starter at some point — a tactic that has not been possible because of the team’s lack of starting pitching depth given the injuries. If the Mets had the depth, it’s possible the struggling Gsellman would have already been optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas.

“[Gsellman] is just not hitting the strike zone right now,” Warthen said. “He’s not far — a little bit here and a little bit there — but he’s pitched behind in the count too much.”

Montero, who represents the organization’s last real starting pitching depth, made six relief appearances for the Mets earlier this season and went 0-2 with a 9.45 ERA. The right-hander has had limited success in a starting role over parts of three seasons.

The rotation’s pedestrian statistics include 146 innings pitched, which ranks 21st in the majors. Opponents are hitting .250 against Mets’ starters, which ranks 17th in the majors.

“Sometimes you’ve just got to have a little patience, and it’s hard,” Collins said. “They don’t even know how to spell that in New York, and I get that, I understand that. But we’ve got to do it the right way.”