4/17/25

Clay Gregory===> Welcome Back to the National League

 







Welcome home to your New York Mets. They will open a four-game series against a National League team starting tonight. The only team the Mets have played so far in the league was against the Marlins in Miami. The somewhat shocking Cardinals head to Citi Field for a four-game set this weekend, and if history is any indication, this should be a good series.

 

This week, the big hoopla around the league was about Juan Soto and not just about his somewhat slow start to the season. I believe all of this was blown out of proportion but when you play in a big market like New York and with a fanbase as passionate as the Mets your going to want to watch your words a little more carefully when regarding the so called best hitter in baseball hitting behind him last season in Judge and how pitchers are changing how they pitch to Soto comment. Pete Alonso has done damage behind Soto, but I get where he was coming from, as the truth is pitchers are attacking him differently, but it's more of they don’t want to give up a two-run bomb to Soto instead of who is or who isn’t hitting behind him in the lineup.

 

The season is still young, and the Mets are sitting at 11-7 and a game up on the hated Phillies, even after dropping two against the Twins, so maybe playing at Citi Field will lead to a series win or even better, a sweep of the Cardinals. The Cardinals had a horrible time in Boston during their last East Coast road trip, and here’s to that trend continuing. The starting pitching for the Amazins’ has been outstanding, even when the offense has sputtered at times, which is a measure of a good team. The homestand will benefit the team so they can get some momentum before taking on the rival Phillies starting next week, with the battle for first in the NL East to be quite entertaining.

 

It will be good to start playing National League opponents; however, getting so many cracks at American League teams and being at 11-7 gives you confidence, especially in World Series time. Even with both leagues having the DH now, there is still something special about the rivalries, the passion when taking on teams from your neck of the woods. I look forward to the Mets splitting the Cardinals series at worst, and I feel more optimistic about a series win heading into the Phillies series on a hot streak, showing them who the dominant team in the East will be this season. Baseball rivalries are different than most as you will go up against your rivals in sets of three games and sometimes four. There is something magical, especially at Citi Field, when the Phillies head into town. The season is young, and our team is in first place, and no matter what comments are made in the media or the who's hitting and who's not, here's to a stretch of winning baseball back in our league, the National League, and it's about time. LGM

2 comments:

Tom Brennan said...

Pete is going at what is likely an unsustainable pace, Soto and others will have to ramp up their hitting.

Clay Gregory said...

I believe they will pick up the slack especially lindor and Soto as their track records state at the end of the year their numbers will be there and the team should be in a good position. Anything can happen in baseball though and I agree that Pete is playing some of his best baseball right now and it is going to be hard to keep the pace up for the whole season but wouldn't it be cool if he did.