When Major League Baseball and the players’ union agreed to a restart of an abridged version of the 2020 season, the New York Mets looked like a good baseball team on paper.
In a 60-game season, with the new universal designated hitter rule — and an expanded format for the playoffs — reaching the postseason projected as an attainable goal for this team.
The Mets are this year’s poster boys for what a good team looks like on paper. They have the best starting pitcher in the game, we can check off that box. Their bullpen was projected as potentially formidable, but everyone knows potential only gets you the groceries – not the cooked meal. And they have last season’s National League Rookie of the Year in the middle of a lineup capable of scoring runs.
So, what could possibly wrong? Well, for the Mets, as always, the season began.
Opening Day at Citi Field wasn’t bad for the Mets, it was actually pretty good. Yoenis Cespedes crushed a baseball into the left field seats. The home run turned out to be all they needed to take down the Atlanta Braves with a 1-0 victory.
For three hours, at least, there was plenty to feel good about in Queens. Cespedes, as the designated hitter with something to prove, looked the part. Jacob deGrom, as the dominant starting pitcher, shut down Atlanta for five innings. Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson did their part for the bullpen before Edwin Diaz closed the door.
In recent years, however, consistency for the Mets means finding innovative ways to give their fans reason for Alka-Seltzer.
Since their Opening Day win, the Mets would go on to lose eight of their next 12 games. Diaz has regressed to his 2019 form, which is bad for everyone involved except the opposing team. They couldn’t get 10 games out of Cespedes because he decided to opt out of the season. Most likely, his time as a Met is over, and that’s probably a good thing for both sides.
If you regularly follow the Mets, all of this, in a normal 162-game season, is par for the course. You already know they’ll be a self-induced injection of drama into a tall serving of poorly played baseball.
In a truncated 60-game season, however, the margin for error is slim to none. There’s no time for messing around. The Mets have already endured one five-game losing streak.
It’s not what you want from a team with hopes of making the playoffs this year – if the baseball season even makes it that far.
Where’s the great Jim Mora when you need him?
“Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!” – Jim Mora
The Mets currently find themselves at the bottom of the National League East division. They’re only 3.5 game back of the surprising Miami Marlins. And, by the way, sooner or later — we’re going to have to talk about the Marlins. It’ll likely be sooner; the Marlins are in town for a weekend series with the Mets.
But if the Mets are to get back on the right side of the conversation, there’s work to be done. Here are four areas of interest:
- Pete Alonso is no longer a rookie, and the rest of the league is taking turns reminding him. Last year’s National League Rooke of the Year is hitting below .200 with only one home run.
- Alonso’s early-season slump has been a factor in the team’s offensive struggles. The Mets are hitting .261, that’s third in the National League in batting average. They’re getting runners on base. But they’re averaging 8.92 runners left on base per game. This indicates a team struggling to finish scoring opportunities. If they can get those runners across home plate, it’ll go a long way towards turning around their season.
- They must figure out what’s wrong with Edwin Diaz, because they don’t have time to wait for him to do it. Mets’ fans have mostly lost confidence in him as a closer for this team.
- The starting pitching begins and ends with deGrom, and, as great as he is, he’s only one man. In their five-man rotation, there’s legitimate concern about spots two through five.
These are all areas of interest we’ll keep a close eye on as the season progresses.
First-year manager Luis Rojas already had a full plate to deal with. He’s coming into a shortened season and against the backdrop of a pandemic. It’s still early but, so far, Rojas has maintained a calm and prepared approach to his job. That’s a good sign if you’re looking for an early evaluation of Rojas.
Is this truly the year where the Mets overcome adversity and play to their potential? It’s looking more likely that we’re watching another season where all we can say is, well, they’re a good-looking team on paper.
There’s still time to turn things around in Queens, but not much.
