“The LTJ Editorial” - “Let‘s Go Mets! A projected look inside 2013”

“The LTJ Editorial”
Author: Luis Tirado Jr.
Date: 3-28-13
E-Mail: NYLuis7@gmail.com
Twitter/Instagram: @Slayerdemise

“Let‘s Go Mets! A projected look inside 2013”

In less than seven days at the time of this editorial, our beloved NY Mets will take the field to begin the upcoming 2013 Season. We start the season on April 1st against the San Diego Padres and that three-game series will kickoff what should be a progressive season. I say progressive since while last year we didn’t make the playoffs, we saw some guys step up and give us some hope that better memories are ahead of us. I don’t think this will be a breakout season for the Mets but only time can really tell. The National League East will be one of the toughest divisions in MLB like it’s always been. Here’s my Projected Lineup for this year:

*** OUTFIELD ***

LF Lucas Duda
CF Jordany Valdespin
RF Marlon Byrd

You’ve probably read about this issue hundreds of times before reading mine, but the outfield remains to be the biggest glaring issue for the Mets. It’s somewhat upsetting that the team didn’t really make any decent offseason signings for here but one must remain optimistic. Duda will be a risk as last year he starting off decent and declined to the point of being demoted. Maybe he’ll come around but we can only hope. Valdespin was very good during Spring Training, I was happy to see him earn a starting spot on the team. Hopefully he’ll produce defensively which is what we’re lacking in the outfield. Byrd is in the same situation, very unpredictable to see if he’ll be a solid player or be sent down to the minors for slumping. The only bright spot in my opinion is Valdespin, but one man can’t run a three man operated machine.

*** INFIELD ***

1B Ike Davis
2B Daniel Murphy
3B David Wright
SS Ruben Tejada
C John Buck

One of the brighter spots of the team is around the diamond. Davis will continue to bloom both defensively and offensively as he is another year wiser. If he stays healthy, he will have another consecutive strong season with even bigger numbers. David Wright was recently named the Mets Team Captain and he is already acting like it. Going above and beyond at the time of writing this, he has been hastily working on being in uniform come Opening Day fighting an injury to the side of his body. Murphy will continue being an RBI machine which will setup some good situations to keep scoring runs. Tejada will have another solid season with bringing in runs home with what I predict another .300%+ OBP this season. I know he’s struggled a lot in Spring, but when it matters most he delivers. Buck will be interesting to see how he does in his debut with the Mets. I think if he does a decent job, he’ll keep his spot as the season progresses. If not though, D'Arnaud will be brought up around the start of Summer and will begin his mark on this team.

*** PITCHING ROTATION ***

LHP Jonathan Niese
RHP Dillon Gee
RHP Matt Harvey
RHP Shawn Marcum
RHP Jeremy Hefner

Sadly, LHP Johan Santana will start the Season on the Disabled List and Manager Terry Collins has officially named Niese our Opening Day Starter. Niese should have a strong game as he’ll be going up against the Padres’ Volquez. Niese can be a very solid pitcher as long as he’s confident in himself and throws his pitches accordingly. Harvey will finally get his chance to start a full season and I know he’ll have an amazing one at that. I can’t wait to see how he does this year as I’m excited for his growth. I’m more concerned about Gee/Marcum especially since Marcum is once again injured. If Gee/Marcum start to decline, I for one can’t wait to see Zack Wheeler called up if it happens this season. I’d rather see him develop in the minors before rushing things like the Mets did with Harvey last year. Hefner I believe will surprise a lot of people, he’s a smart pitcher who while has some low percentages with strikeouts, he knows how to get people out in important situations.

*** CLOSING/BULLPEN PITCHERS ***

CL/RHP Bobby Parnell
RHP Brandon Lyon
RHP Scott Achinson
LHP Josh Edgin
RHP LaTroy Hawkins
LHP Robert Carson
RHP Greg Burke

With the exception of Parnell, lots of new faces in the Bullpen this year which I’m very glad for since last season our Bullpen was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. Parnell will bring two-seam fastballs and curveballs to the table to save some games for our Mets as he’ll be our closer. Yet another injury to the team, RHP Frank Francisco is out with an elbow injury who was projected to be our main closer but I’m confident Parnell will handle the job nicely. As for the rest of the bullpen, time will only tell how it all meshes together.

*** BATTING LINEUP ***
1 - Jordany Valdespin
2 - Daniel Murphy
3 - David Wright
4 - Ike Davis
5 - Lucas Duda
6 - Marlon Byrd
7 - John Buck
8 - Ruben Tejada

This is my projected batting lineup for this season, the only concerns I have really is Murphy/Duda. Both of which have a history of being “streaky” where either they’ll have lots of consecutive games getting RBI’s/HR’s or lots of consecutive strikeouts and being ghosts in the lineup. Hopefully the former and not the latter when it comes to streaks. Valdespin has been doing very well to the point of being a solid option to be our leadoff guy. I definitely see Wright/Davis having 20+ HR seasons with Byrd/Buck/Tejada cleaning up nicely to keep getting runs scored. As long as everyone stays healthy, I believe we will have a decent batting lineup to keep most games close. Injuries are what makes us anemic, especially when the big hitters like Wright/Davis aren’t in the lineup and we can barely get players on base. Hopefully everyone takes their vitamins and is healthy for the entire season!

Overall, this might be a tough season for us. In the National League East, I see the Washington Nationals not only being a top contender but #1 in the standings majority of the season. The Atlanta Braves despite no Chipper Jones will still be going back and forth with the Nationals, they have solid pitching and enough heavy hitting guys to keep those runs coming. Can’t forget about the rival Philadelphia Phillies even though I think they’ve been declining for the past few years, they’ll still have a positive win-loss record. The Miami Marlins shipped the main core of their team out and I think they’ll be dead last in the NL East. They lost too many people and will have lots of questions all over their lineups throughout the season. The Mets will most likely be towards the bottom two spots in the standings when it comes to the NL East.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a diehard Mets fan but I have to be very realistic. With our outfield the way it is, injuries ALREADY hitting the team, and an unknown bullpen, this might end up being another long season for our Mets. Some say GM Sandy Alderson is waiting until not this season but the 2014 season to start making some big free-agent signings for the team since they’ll have a heck of a lot of salary cap money to use. I know the mentality is to win games but maybe there is something we’re not seeing that all the coaches see for this year. Maybe we can surprise everyone if our pitching steps up, our bullpen closes games, we become a HR/RBI hitting machine, and some unknowns start making a name for themselves. Overall though, like always, this diehard Mets fan can’t wait until Monday to see what lies ahead. Last year we saw a CY Young Winner, the first ever no-hitter game in Mets history, and some good games that provided awesome memories that I’ll cherish for years to come. Hopefully this is the year we surprise many and just continue making not just new memories, but amazing ones at that! See you all at Citi Field…… LETS GO METS!!!