WHAT A DIFFERENCE 5 GAMES CAN
MAKE by Tom Brennan
Time is short, so here is a very abbreviated version of a Morning Report. May it give readers a chance to shoot the proverbial breeze.
After game 8, this team had a stinking, lousy 2 homers. The Citifield weather and wind were inhospitable. But urn up the heat and hit the road, and in the last 5 games, 17 homers. WOW. The Mets' version of carpet bombing.
They were clearly near or at the bottom of the bigs in homers after 8 games - in 5 games, they jump to a close 3rd in homers in the NL, trailing the Giants and Cards by 2 dingers, but having played fewer games than either of them.
It is a nice feeling to have a lineup where all 8 guys (in DH games all 9 guys) can go deep. I have a feeling this team is really gonna flex its muscles. Feeling like August again.
Good news all around on the Jake deGrom front. Excellent. Jake is part of the family.
Logan Verrett is proving me wrong. I was concerned his minor league penchant for the long ball would be an impediment. Wrong. He has a sterling 2.97 career major league ERA in 61 innings. And can hit too!
Minor league teams got bashed last night. 4 lossed, outscored 30-6. Write it off, move on.
That's it, folks.
Is this Mets home run surge a mirage or fluke? These guys are capable - it was just last year that the Mets hit more home runs in a month (August) than any other month in their history, with mostly the same players.
ReplyDeleteA team that has historically underwhelmed in the homer dept, it has a team record of 200 in 2006 (which 4 other teams exceeded just last year alone), a low of 61 in 1980, and last season's late surge got them to 177.
I personally think the 200 homer record could, and might very well, fall this year.