If I were to have told you back in March, that on August 4, the Mets would have lost David Wright for most of the season, same with Travis d’Arnaud, the signing of Michael Cuddyer was pretty much a bust, their closer would be busted not once, but TWICE for PED’s, that Curtis Granderson’s regression had not stopped and that Dillon Gee and Bartolo Colon were nowhere near the pitchers they were last season, you would think Gotham’s other team would be fighting the Phillies for last place.
I am here to tell you, that is not the case and that’s why they play the games. Going up a juggernaut like the Nationals with a rotation of Max Scherzer, Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg should have spelled doom for the Mets. Instead this Mets team has bucked all the odds, gotten great contributions from their farm system and has managed to be in first place on 8/4/15.
While the Yankees run to first place (5 ½ game lead over the Blue Jays as of this writing), has been pretty amazing too, it was not nearly as unexpected as what New York has gotten from these Mets, especially when it comes to pitching.
Jacob deGrom has continued his form from his ROY season, Matt Harvey seems to have come all the way back from Tommy John surgery, Noah Syndergaard has proved not only that he can be a Number 2, but the upside to be a 1, and Stephen Matz has shown he may be better than all of them in his brief stint before a torn lat sidelined him.
Next season you have those four and add in Zack Wheeler, and this rotation of the Mets will rival anything they had in the mid-80’s and will be controllable for years. It is scary to think how good and for how long this team is going to be.
Then you see how incredible Jeurys Familia has been at the backend of this bullpen, 2.06 ERA .96 WHIP and 28 Saves, is it any wonder they are a first place squad right now?
Thanks to some brilliant moves by GM Sandy Alderson, the Mets were also able to add role players like Kelly Johnson, Juan Uribe, Tyler Clippard (in the Pen), and rookie OF Michael Conforto. Then they lowered the boom by acquiring Yoenis Cespedes, the big bat they needed, without giving up any of their young pitching.
This team is poised to not only make the post-season this year, but make some serious noise. Lucas Duda has made serious strides this year, Granderson is still a dangerous hitter, d’Arnaud is back now and healthy and if David Wright can make a comeback this season, and just be healthy until after the season, lookout.
That rotation and that line-up can compete with all comers this season. The Nationals and Dodgers have not lived up to expectations, the Giants are very beatable, the Cubs will run out of gas this year, and the Pirates and Cardinals are both going to be tough to navigate, but the Mets are finally ready to take on the big boys, and make New York Baseball relevant once again. This time, it looks like it will be for years to come.