Mets slot Mejia into new six-man rotation

WASHINGTON -- The Mets have officially set up their new six-man starting rotation, which they hope will allow both Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler to continue pitching through September.

After Dillon Gee and Carlos Torres finish off this weekend's series in Washington, Jeremy Hefner, Wheeler, Jenrry Mejia and Harvey will start next week's four-game set in Miami. The Mets will continue proceeding with a six-man rotation from there, until either injury or ineffectiveness alters the situation.

"I think it's too early to determine how far we're going to go out with it," manager Terry Collins said. "It all depends on what happens here -- my guess, in the next two or three weeks. If we continue to play pretty good, you look up and you're five or six [games] out, we'll have to determine what our next move is."

Collins estimated that Harvey has 10 starts remaining before he hits his innings limit, while Wheeler appears to be in a similar spot. Using a six-man rotation -- a strategy made possible by the strong recent showings of Mejia and Torres -- will help both of them to extend their remaining innings well into September. As a general (but somewhat flexible) rule, the Mets do not like young pitchers to increase their innings totals by more than 30 from one year to the next.