Are There Beasts Elsewhere in the NL East?
OK, it is March 14, and only 11 spring training games are left to be played.
The Mets open on March 27 in Houston, so Opening Day is less than two weeks away.
We writers can tend to do a lot of Metsies' navel gazing, when it is starting to also be time to gaze outwards.
It is still relatively early, sure enough, but what players on other NL East teams are impressive, even looking daunting, so far? Thru Wednesday, the Mets were 23rd in runs scored with 95 runs, Atlanta 29th with 75 runs, Philly 14th with 101 runs, the Nationals juggernaut 10th with 108 runs, and Florida 22nd with 91 runs.
The Mets lost 3-2 yesterday - two unearned runs allowed - so the great pitching continues, and the hitting has been dramatically tamped down by a) injuries to Alvarez, Nimmo, McNeil, and Marte, b) a real easing-in to the line up of other key regulars, and c) a complete absence of offense from our prospects (many of whom, to be fair, are not close to MLB-ready). Anyway...
ATLANTA
They lose d'Arnaud, AND their starting catcher for now, and catcher Sandy deLeon was 5 for 13 with 3 HRs. Figures.
Michael Harris hit 2 HRs Wednesday, but he is 5 for 25 with 2 HRs this spring.
Austin Reilly 8 for 26, but just one HR and 2 RBIs.
Ozuna is just 6 for 26 with 2 RBIs.
Ozzie? Just 4 for 21 so far.
Daunting so far? No one. But Luisangel's brother may be back by May 1. And his brother Ronald McDonald is pretty daunting, we'd all agree.
MIAMI
Matt Mervis .286, 3 HRs so far.
SS Xavier Edwards is 9 for 28 so far. But fellow SS Jack Winkler is 4 for 8, 2 HRs, 4 walks, 5 runs and 5 RBIs. Take your pick. Or pick both.
Joe MACK is 5 for 17.
2B Jared Serna is 4 for 7 and 3 walks and a HR. Hall of Famer, clearly.
Miami offensively has not been daunting at the plate for years. 2025 seems ready for a repeat of that.
NATIONALS - very impressive, from a # of no-names and newbies:
SS Nasim Nunez is 11 for 24 with 3 walks. 2nd rounder.
CF Robert Hassell is 15 for 35 with 3 walks. 8th overall draft pick in 2020.
RF Dylan Crews .355/.444/.419. 2nd overall draft pick.
DH Andres Chapparo: 12-30. Hit .328 in minors in 2024, .215 in majors.
Luis Garcia, Brady House, and Alex Call all 7 for 19. House was 11th overall. Garcia is an excellent, established 2B, who broke out big in 2024. Ruiz is a solid starting MLB catcher.
James Wood 6 for 20 with 2 HRs. 2nd round blossoming stud.
Keibert Ruiz, 7 for 26 with 3 HRs and 8 RBIs.
Daylon Lile 5 for 20 with EIGHT walks. 2nd round OF speedster.
Wow. An impressive number of performances from several no-names and newbies. Maybe this team will explode into a we-can-do-this, daunting hitting squad in 2025. Could be a really fun team to watch. And a tough team to play.
PHILLY
C Garrett Stubbs has been on base 9 of 17 times.
Bryce Harper 8 for 21 - but no walks.
Clemens' kid Kody is a Ruthian .370/.393/.704.
Alec Bohm 8 for 25 with 3 long balls. Uhh ohh.
Max Kepler 6 for 19, with 2 HRs.
JT Realmuto 4 for 15 with 4 walks.
But Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber are a combined 4 for 39.
Philly has a daunting line up, but not as daunting as a healthy Mets line up. Of course, a healthy Mets line up is a hypothetical, like harnessing nuclear fusion. Philly's line up is starting to age a bit, so perhaps a little less challenging offensively than last year.
And, on the other hand, what key players on those team are injured and will miss at least some early season games?
THE BRAVES
Ronald Acuna is hitting bombs in BP. His timetable for return from his MCL is May 1.
Spencer Strider tossed BP on March 7 and plans to do so at least one more time before pitching in a game. May 1 return for him, too.
Sean Murphy has an oblique injury - return timetable mid-April.
Joe Jimenez, relief pitcher, may miss all of 2025 due to a knee injury.
THE MARLINS
Starter Eury Perez missed 2024 and is still out til mid season.
THE PHILLIES
Much healthier than the Mets - saw this:
An MRI showed lefty Matt Strahm has a shoulder impingement and could open the season on the injured list.
THE NATS
Starter Josiah Gray out with an elbow until September. Ready for their playoff stretch drive? Time will tell.
THE METS?
Plenty of aches and pains. Especially the "M Boys"...
Manaea, Montas, Madrigal, McNeil, Mauricio, Mickey Mantle (OK, not Mantle).
No need to rehash the Mash Unit.
But we have the Great Equalizer, Juan Soto.
Imagine if the Mets had lost the Juan Soto Sweepstakes...
11 comments:
Here is some good meat to chew on this morning.
https://youtu.be/7ddBBG7_FiA?si=iiYzSiJMAt6oQzXi
Sorry, I forgot to add the link.
As for the injuries, didn’t the Braves win a World Series title without Acuna? While it speaks to the rest of their organization, the Mets also have the ability to get passed this present injury bug.
The team that I noticed is screwed is the Yankees. They have no backup options for everything they are losing to injury: Stanton, Cole, Gil… ouch!
Gus, I forgot about Gil...not sure how long he will be out, but he was a huge part of their 2024.
The Mets have more than Soto
Gus, that is a great, substantive video about the Mets' prospects. Thanks
Mack, agreed, and it would be a very good lineup without Soto, if Nimmo, McNeil and Alvarez were healthy.
If Soto went elsewhere, I'm sure David would've stocked up with others, as the Yankees did. IBID.
Spring stats are not good predictors. Let's see how these teams get out of the gate in April. The Mets may lag a bit due to injuries, but I would rather have those issues early than late.
Bill, true, but Soto is like a Barry Bonds in impact. Of course, the risk is if Soto gets injured and it becomes chronic.
Lets all pray Soto is not Trout that would be horrific. The Nats will be annnoying to add to the Braves and Phils but of course the West Coast Evil Empire really only has the Padres. Lucky them.
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