SAVAGE VIEWS – MOVING ON UP

It’s a beautiful Sunday afternoon as I sit down to write this column in advance of the NLCS playoffs. Prior to the season I forecast that the Mets would not only make the playoffs but go deep into the playoffs.  When I made my prediction, it was done with the expectation that Senga would be our ace.  When he went down for the second time, I began to seriously doubt their ability to compete and yet here we are.

An argument can be made that we are the best of the four remaining teams. Who could have thought that a subway series would be a possibility. I’d be very surprised if the Yankees don’t prevail over the Guardians. Here’s an interesting fact. Both the Yankees’ Stanton and the Mets Vientos wear the same number 27.  Both wound up hitting 27 home runs during the regular season and both are each team’s most productive hitter during the postseason.

It would not be a surprise if the Mets beat the Dodgers especially since our starting pitching seems to be better. We will win the series if our starters go deep in games. If it becomes a bullpen game we lose. The Dodgers have probably the best offensive team in MLB. However, it should be noted that Ohtani was not a factor against the Padres ands hit only .200. On the other hand, Teoscar Hernandez was solid. Speaking of underperformers, Judge continues his poor post-season play by hitting a paltry .154 and the rest of the team with the exception of Stanton did no produce much.

Excerpt from my March 27 post

This would have been published last week had I not been on the road.

A number of pundits are down on this team even suggesting the season will be over once we hit July and that we will be massive sellers.  Obviously, I disagree.  Although I was not in favor of signing JD Martinez and wanted Vientos to be given the opportunity to shine, I understand the reasons for the move.  The Mets lineup has the potential to be formidable.

Clearly the Braves are the class of the division with the Phillies ranked second.  In fact, some suggest that Philly will challenge the Braves for the title.  In my opinion, the Mets match up well with Philly as shown below:

Position	Mets	Philly	Edge
1B	Alonso	Harper	Even
2B	McNeil	Stott	Even
SS	Lindor	Turner	Even
3B	Baty	Bohm	Philly
C	Alvarez	Realmuto	Even
LF	Nimmo	Castellanos	Mets
CF	Bader	Rojas	Even
RF	Marte	Marsh	Mets
DH	Martinez	Schwarber	Mets
SP1	Senza	Nola	Philly
SP2	Severino	Wheeler	Philly
SP3	Quintana	Suarez	Philly
SP4	Manaea	Sanchez	Even
SP5	Houser	Turnbill	Mets
SP6	MeGill	Walker	Mets
Closer	Diaz	Alvarado	Mets
RP			Even
Bench			Philly

A lot depends on our guys remaining relatively healthy since there are few position player options available at this time in our minor league system.  On the other hand, we have quite a bit of pitching depth that few teams can match.  It’s a good bet that we will see the likes of Peterson, Butto, Lucchesi, Scott and Lavender at some point this year with Hamil and Vasil in the wings.  Obviously, the top three starters for Philly are better than what the Mets have to offer.  Don’t be surprised if the Mets win the season series from Philly.

The coming week is going to be a fun ride. It’s great to be playing meaningful games in October. Sunday night I’ll be switching back and forth between the Mets and the Giants.

Ray

October 15, 2024