Reese Kaplan -- From the Outside Looking In at the Mets

Right now I'm on a short journey out of my newly adopted homeland of Malaysia due to the country's inefficiency in addressing long term visa issues.  I won't go into the whole long saga, but suffice to say a two night short stay in Singapore legally allows me to return to Malaysia for 90 more days (plus another 60 purchased as an extension to that tourist visa).  

Hopefully by the end of the 5 months earned and/or bought the long term visa question will be resolved and I'm good without these quickie visa runs to either Thailand or Singapore for the next five full years.  There are issues with THAT as well, but this is supposed to be about the Mets and not regarding personal paperwork snafus.  

This all came to mind when I thought what it must be like for an outsider looking in on what it's like when the Mets roll into town.  There is a lot to respect, some things to fear and some that make everyone scratch their heads in puzzlement.  Let's start with the hitting.

Pete Alonso is a formidable home run hitter who is turning himself into a tough out at the plate.  He's not a Dave Kingman dinger or strikeout person of just two options.  He is also known for driving in runs with single and doubles as well.  Furthermore he's turned himself into a credible first baseman after everyone feared his suspect defense.

What can you say about Jeff McNeil except wow.  In an era when home runs are the metric by which players are judged as real men, many have forgotten that simply getting on base and not fearing any pitcher on the way to a batting title is indeed just as valuable.  He's not yet up to the 2022 levels but no one is fearing a backslide as he's been too good for too long.  

Next comes Francisco Lindor who has shown New Yorkers just what the scouts saw when the Mets plucked him out of Cleveland.  He is already one of the finest shortstops in the game, hits with power, runs with amazing speed and his smile makes everyone on this side of the argument very happy he's a Met.  His run production is unquestioned anymore.  

Then there's Starling Marte who, when healthy, is one of the better free agent deals the team ever sgned.  He can play great defense, run with amazing speed, take extra bases, hit the ball solidly in the gaps and over the wall.  The only trick here is keeping the man on the field.

Finally there's the 2023 huge surprise of Brandon Nimmo.  His defense seems to just get better and better every day and his ability not only to work the counts but to drive the ball all over the field makes him get Sandy Alderson some high praise after people questioned his judgment signing this guy who was not from a major baseball program when he came into the Mets family.  Right now Nimmo is hitting a scorching .350 with a couple of long balls and he's using his speed to steal bases.  

Now let's consider the bullpen.  Without Edwin Diaz everyone was expecting an unmitigated disaster, but the combination of David Robertson, Adam Ottavino, Brooks Raley, Drew Smith and others has been much more good than bad.  Yes, some of the members of the Syracuse shuttle have paled when it was needed most, but this group led by four very impressive fireman has been one of the reasons the Mets find themselves in a state of winning with a 14-9 record as of Monday.  

Where the opposition can kind of have their laughs and relax a bit is in the area of starting pitching.  With no Justin Verlander, no Carlos Carrasco, no Jose Quintana and now no Max Scherzer the Mets are kind of making it up as they go along.  David Peterson's last two starts were Little League cringe-worthy.   Tylor Megill is still holding his own but not dominant.  

Replacements Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi have been far better, but a single start here and there isn't a formula for long term success.  Fortunately Scherzer's penalty box duration is soon coming to a close and Justin Verlander should start his season in the first third of May.  

The other hitting options are also not going to strike fear into opponents hearts YET.  Brett Baty is needing to adjust to this next level of pitching.  Ditto Francisco Alvarez.  DH Daniel Vogelbach is uneven.  Tommy Pham has started off well and left fielder/DH Mark Canha has been solid if unspectacular.  

Behind all of the roster inconsistencies is one of the best managers in the game in Buck Showalter.  Behind him is a coaching staff that is much more good than bad.  Behind them is a front office that has had its ups and downs but wins and losses are not calculated on trades and free agent signings as much as they are through the productivity of the current players Showalter has available to play.  For now that assortment of pro ballplayers is pretty damned good.