With Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz starting the year in Triple-A, and the Mets discovering Zack Wheeler tore his UCL on the eve of Spring Training, we knew the Five Aces weren’t going to pitch in the same rotation in 2015.  After winning the pennant that year, the Mets set their sights on 2016 to be the year the team not only won the World Series, but also as the year their plan would all come to fruition.

That was until Wheeler had a number of set-backs costing him the entire 2016 season.  But it was more than just Wheeler.  Matt Harvey would have a lost season culminating with a Thoracic Outlet Syndrome diagnosis.  Jacob deGrom needed ulnar nerve transplantation surgery.  Matz had one of his typically injury plagued seasons with him needing season ending surgery to remove what was described as a massive bone spur from his pitching elbow.

That made 2017 the year . . . until it wasn’t.  Despite many believing neither Harvey nor Wheeler were ready to begin the season in the rotation, they ultimately did due to injuries.  However, that did not mean the Five Aces would not begin the year in the same rotation as Matz once again had elbow issues.

After Matz, it was Syndergaard with a torn lat.  Then Harvey and Wheeler would each go down with stress reactions to their pitching arms.  While not confirmed, this may have been the result of them team pushing them too hard to start the season.  Ultimately, after 13 starts, the Mets discovered what was wrong with Matz; he had the same nerve injury deGrom had the previous season.

This offseason was the offseason the Mets front office became more realistic.  The team signed Todd Frazier to play third base all but admitted David Wright would not be able to play this season, and the team signed Jason Vargas.  With Vargas lined up to the the third or fourth starter, the Mets were effectively announcing the Five Aces dream was finally dead.

Except, ironically, it isn’t.  And I say ironically because it is an injury that has allowed the dream to be revived.

With Vargas needing surgery to remove a fractured hamate bone, the Mets need to replace him for at least two turns through the rotation.  This means that Wheeler, who was a candidate to move to the bullpen, or Matz, who was considered to start the year in Extended Spring Training, will likely both find themselves in the same rotation with Syndergaard, deGrom, and Harvey.

Finally, it is all coming to plan even if those plans are two to three years late.

After seeing how each pitchers pitches in their starts, and with Vargas’ timetable not being completely set in stone, who knows what will happen.  Maybe this will last for two turns, the first half, or the full season.  With the Mets and their handling of injuries, you never know.  The only thing we do know is against all odds, the Five Aces will pitch in the same rotation.

That’s no small feat given all of their respective obstacles.  This is a great thing for Mets fans to see as well because we have been waiting years to see this.  And for slightly older Mets fans, this is cathartic because we never did get to see Generation K (Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, and Bill Pulsipher) ever pitch in the same rotation.

We’ll now see it with the Five Aces.  Let the fun begin.