Will this be the dawn of a new era where the Mets finally turn the corner as a franchise and leave "LOL Mets" behind?
(Please note this post was written before the first game was played)
The New York Mets' 2022 season gets underway tonight in Washington, provided the storm clouds that have taken over the eastern section of the country decide to allow it. The threat of bad weather and some of the recent injury news have combined to dampen the spirits of Mets fans a bit. But optimism always reigns supreme at the start of a new baseball season — and this has the potential to be the year where the Mets finally leave the Wilpon era in the rearview.
For a while this spring, everything seemed to be going the right way for the Mets and their fans. Steve Cohen and the Mets did a great job of reversing the negative coverage of the team last fall with some great free agent signings and strong hirings. Then the somewhat surprising end to the MLB lockout meant a full 162-game schedule would be played after I had all but given up hope that they'd be playing baseball in April.
The 2022 era of good feelings culminated on March 27, when Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer took the mound against the Cardinals in the same spring training game. Both pitched effectively, and it looked for a moment that the Mets would start off the year with their 1-2 rotation punch intact.
There's no sugarcoating the bad news of deGrom's injury. In a best-case scenario, the Mets' ace is unlikely to take the mound before some time in June. Moreover, nothing about deGrom's recent health history would suggest that the best case is the most likely way things will turn out. It would be easy to allow ourselves to wallow away in pessimism and worry, but I still like this team's chances of competing for the division all year long.
It's hard to maintain optimism with the deGrom news, the worries about Max Scherzer's hamstring, and Brandon Nimmo not making it into the regular season before his first injury concern. However, I take a lot of comfort in the depth that Billy Eppler built into this roster, but the 2021 season taught me that depth can be overwhelmed by bad luck. Luck is something that cannot be controlled.
What can be controlled is starting the year off with the right people in place. The weirdness with the hitting coaches in 2021 was a significant cause of the offensive struggles. Things look much more settled down with the Eric Chavez hiring. Chavez seems to have the right balance between using analytics and not overwhelming his hitters. The Mets position players will reap the benefits of having a consistent voice in their ears from the start of spring training right through the season.
The additions of Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar, and Mark Canha should help the Mets be more productive at the plate this season. I still worry that the lineup may be a bit short, but that worry can be alleviated if Dominic Smith and J.D. Davis both produce this season. Smith looked great this spring.
Even Robinson Cano showed some promising signs late in spring training after looking like a dead bat walking early on. There is no way that Cano will give the Mets $20 million worth of production this season, but he doesn't have to. The last two years of Cano's contract is a sunk cost that will be paid out as long as he's not stupid enough to get caught using PEDs again. Despite the cheating, Cano is well-liked in the clubhouse and has been an effective mentor to younger hitters. If he can provide enough offense to justify a roster spot, I could see Robinson Cano actually being a positive for this team.
The pitching has the potential to be a strength for this team, but, obviously, health is going to play a huge factor in that. I have decided with this latest injury that I'm not going to have any expectations for deGrom. I'll root like hell for him to return and stay on the mound into the postseason, but I just can't live and die with every new injury the man suffers like I did last season.
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2 comments:
Lots of good thoughts here. After one game, it looks like Megill is taking that step forward and won't give up his rotation slot very quickly. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the Phillies thumpers in their bandbox.
My take on 90 wins is that if they get to that number, they win the division. It will be tough for any NL East team to pile up the wins by beating each other up.
In my opinion, everything will result from the success or failure of the rotation.
So far so good and the hope is McGill's increased velocity will prevent the league catching up to him like they did last year.
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