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The Mets are 14-6, in first place in the Eastern Division of the National League, with the second best record in the League. Fans have to be happy about that, don’t they? But the truth is that the Mets are pretty lucky to be in this position.
In the last week, the Mets have lost…no…not just lost…have brutally blown, not one, but two brilliant performances by Jacob deGrom turning what appeared to be sure wins into gut-wrenching losses. The bullpen that appeared to be the surprising bright spot had two ugly meltdowns to contribute to the debacles.
But what is truly amazing is how the Mets are in such a good position with not only the bullpen melting down, but the Matt Harvey saga and his ultimate demotion to the bullpen, as well as the on again, off again, performances of Steven Matz. Even Noah Syndergaard, strikeouts and all, has not been able to provide the kind of lengthy performances needed to get to the back end of the bullpen.
While it seems like the season has just begun, the first month is already in the books. And while it’s still way too early on in a long baseball season, as we learned last year, there appear to be some clear indications of what lays ahead for the 2016 Mets.
Let’s take a look at some of the takeaways from the first month:
Okay...so now that everyone got what they wanted...and the Mets ownership opened their wallets and re-signed Yoenis Cespedes...now what? The Mets now have four outfielders for three positions and there is not yet a DH in the National League.
When Cespedes was brought to the Mets at the trade deadline, there were circumstances that were much different than they are right now. Sandy Alderson was in the midst of revamping the support staff...bringing in valuable veterans like Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson for the bench and Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed for the bullpen. But he needed to do something about the outfield situation because Michael Cuddyer, who was signed as a free agent almost immediately after the conclusion of the 2014 season, was injured and greatly underperforming. And Juan Lagares had not taken the next step forward after a nice 2014 season in which he won a Gold Glove and looked like the second coming of Andruw Jones in centerfield. It was quite apparent that he was a shell of himself in centerfield, not getting to balls he would have gotten to easily the year before, and his feared rifle arm was reduced to that of a water pistol. We later found out that he was suffering from an injury that vastly curtailed his abilities.
After sweeping the Rockies in four games at CitiField just a week ago, the Mets met with the Rockies on their own turf to begin a three-game series at Coors Field. And the Mets showed that they could keep up with the Rockies brand of "Coors Field baseball" better known as good old fashioned Home Run Derby. Well, at least Yoenis Cespedes did. Cespedes had a career night hitting three home runs, including a second inning grand slam, going five for six with seven RBI, five runs scored, and added a stolen base. The game actually resembled a slow pitch softball game as the teams pounded away at each other with the Mets eventually winning 14-9 after blowing an early 7-1 lead.
Alan Karmin is an award-winning journalist and author. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and spent most of his life growing up in the New Jersey suburbs. Alan's family were avid Brooklyn Dodgers fans and when the Dodgers moved west, the Mets became the team to root for. The Mets have always been a true focal point, Alan even wrote a term paper in high school to analyze what was wrong with the Mets. While at the University of Miami, Alan honed his craft covering the, gulp, Yankees during spring trainings in Fort Lauderdale for a local NBC affiliate, as well as the Associated Press and UPI. He broadcasted baseball games for the University of Miami, and spring training games for the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos. New York Mets Mania is a forum for Alan to write about his favorite team and for baseball fans to chime in and provide their thoughts and ideas about New York's Amazin' Mets.
