Mike's Mets - So Far So Good

 

By Mike Steffanos

The Mets' opening series in Washington went as well as we could hope for, but now a real test begins.

The 2022 season got off to a much better start for the New York Mets than 2021 did. If you remember, the Mets were supposed to begin last season with a series against the Nationals, but the entire series was postponed due to a COVID-19 outbreak among the Nats. MLB did their infamous "abundance of caution" thing by canceling all the games, and the Mets wound up sitting around for an extra 4 days before beginning their campaign. I always believed that the delay played a part in the Mets' slow start last year, although I would hardly hang all last year's woes on that one thing.

Last year the Mets' season began in Philadelphia, where they dropped 2 of 3. Thanks to the revised schedule, the Mets are heading into Philly next, just like last year. The 3-1 Mets are 1/2 game ahead of the 2-1 Phillies, so I guess you can say that first place in the NL East is on the line. You can also say that there's a long way to go before anything is decided.

Although Sunday's result was, of course, disappointing, it was a pretty good opening series for the Mets. Now, it's very likely that the Nationals will be the cellar dwellers in the NL East this year, but taking 3 of 4 in their ballpark was the sort of "taking care of business" the Mets will need to do if they contend for a playoff spot. While we'll resist the urge to jump to conclusions based on 4 out of 162, here are some observations on what transpired in our Nation's capital those past 4 days:

The Mets made me look pretty good on some of my pre-season notes from my last post. Tylor Megill and Chris Bassit were 2 of my X factors for the season, and both pitched very well.

Megill looked like a seasoned veteran in his start. He's smoothed out his delivery a bit from last year. I mean, it was fine last season but looks even better this year. I don't want to be an idiot and go off the deep end predicting greatness for Tylor, but I think he has a real chance to be a real solid guy for the Mets. Megill can be a solid mid-rotation starting pitcher for the Mets. As I mentioned Thursday, I could see him getting a playoff start for this team. Megill was a developmental win for the Mets organization, not really hyped as a prospect until last year, just before he came up. Tylor seems to have all the stuff he needs to compete in MLB. Now we'll see if he can hold up under the workload with a year under his belt.

Although I have MLB.tv and flip around through games on occasion, I don't think I ever saw Chris Bassit pitch before seeing him this spring. I'm pretty sure I'd remember that delivery. In my first preview of the Mets' pitching from a month ago, I noted that Bassit had a chance to be this season's Bob Ojeda for the 2022 Mets.

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