NEW YORK -- John Maine makes his living high in the strike zone. Mike Pelfrey throws what opponents call a "bowling ball," low and heavy. Oliver Perez slings it from the left side, a la Randy Johnson. And Johan Santana comes from a different left-handed slot with different stuff and a devastating changeup that clearly is the best in the game now that Greg Maddux has put his in mothballs.

The pitchers all but certain to comprise four-fifths of the Mets' rotation have little in common aside from the uniforms they will wear. And the differences in handedness -- two are left-handed -- repertoire, stuff and release points will make a significant difference. So says the man who will oversee the staff. Pitching coach Dan Warthen is convinced the different looks will make the rotation greater than the sum of its parts.

Warthen is anxious to see all the different looks the rotation will have. Though the personnel is essentially the same as what he inherited from Rick Peterson last summer, Warthen said he never saw the rotation as he hopes to see it come April.

"John already was having trouble with his shoulder when I showed up," Warthen said on Wednesday from his home in Oregon. "He was throwing 88 [mph]. Pedro [Martinez] wasn't Pedro, and [Orlando Hernandez] was never there. So I never saw our rotation. Think of all the looks that one would have had if those guys were healthy. But this one, really, can be just as varied. And, by all means, I believe that does make a difference."

Not all managers and pitching coach agree on that notion. Former Mets manager Jeff Torborg, a career catcher, embraced the idea. Peterson said it didn't matter. Former Mets manager Art Howe favored different looks, but he wanted quality pitchers primarily, regardless of "look." Willie Randolph was iffy on the whole thing.

Warthen is certain.

"You have back-to-back sinker-slider pitchers in your rotation, and I'll guarantee the guys who goes second will be at a disadvantage if the two games are against the same opponent," Warthen said. "Batters get used to release points and speeds. The more looks, the less comfortable they are."

When Clyde King was one of the Yankees' primary "baseball people" in the 1980s, he would cackle at the prospect of Dave Righetti, left-handed and throwing hard, following Phil Niekro's right-handed knuckleball.

"Are there any two guys on one staff less alike?" King asked.

The Mets had their equivalent in 1993, when right-handed Jeff Innis and his sub-sidearm delivery followed Eric Hillman, 6-foot-11 and left-handed.

"Their release points are a mile apart," then-pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre said.

The vastly successful Mets teams of the mid to late 1980s had different looks and extraordinary talent. And they had Sid Fernandez with his quirky left-handed delivery -- he hesitated an instant before release -- and deceiving fastball. Fernandez threw 88 mph; the hitters saw 95 mph. Even when Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling and Bobby Ojeda were at their best, it was the prospect of facing Fernandez that unnerved opposing hitters.

"He'll mess you up for a week," Gary Matthews once said. "There's no one else like him in the world."

Warthen recalls Fernandez and knows he has one quite so unorthodox or, as players say, funky. But if Freddy Garcia emerges as the No. 5 starter, the Mets will have a fifth "look" and even greater variety.

"He's got a bit of a funk at the top of his delivery and great downward angle with power." Warten said of Garcia. "None of our other guys have that."

As the Mets prepare to report to camp -- the first Spring Training workout for pitchers and catchers is Feb. 15 -- Warthen sees only two potential starters with similar stuff -- Maine and Tim Redding. But the similarities may be fewer if he succeeds in revising Maine's repertoire. Warthen already has encouraged Maine to throw more curves and changeups and "back off the slider." His reasoning is this: Maine works high in the zone, and a curve starts high and therefore will add some deception for those thinking fastball, and the change of speeds may keep hitters off the high fastball that produced the many foul balls that padded Maine's pitch count.

"That's the only change we're thinking about," Warthen said. "The rest of it is just natural. The guys are different. I mean, there would be nothing wrong with having four Doc Goodens. But what we have actually exists, and it can make all of them more effective."