The major leagues is such a small and exclusive community that the death of one of its own disheartens the entire body, especially the death of someone as young, charismatic and talented as Jose Fernandez.
No one on the Mets besides his former Marlin teammate, Jose Reyes, had a deep relationship with Fernandez. But Terry Collins, his coaches, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard enjoyed All-Star time with Fernandez in July, and the shared NL East made Fernandez a familiarity to the Mets – his skill, will and vivacity a regularity to them.
In a perfect world, Fernandez was going to start Monday night against the Mets.