Who would have thought it. Opening day featuring two potential contenders for the Cy Young Award giving up a total of seven runs in the first inning. We witnessed history because Paul Skenes will never have another game that he loses when the Pirates score seven runs. Admit it, when the Pirates lead off with two runs, many thought the game was over.
My prediction is that the Mets will win ninety-six games and the team is off to a good start. Some observations:
FIRST TIME EVER
· I don’t recall the Mets having two
legitimate candidates for Rookie of the Year. Carson Benge certainly looks like
a future star. He managed to get on base three times with a home run and two walks,
after striking out his first two times up. Not only that, he managed to steal a
base. Looks like the complete package. Nolan McLean has the makings of a future
ace. Hopefully, he remains healthy and turns out to be the next great Mets pitcher
following the footsteps of Seaver, Gooden and Harvey.
· The Mets lineup one through nine
looks imposing. There is no need to platoon any of the regulars. However, it’s unrealistic to expect the team
to go through the season without any injuries.
SOME CONCERNS
· What version of Lindor will show up
over the next few weeks. History has shown him to be an extremely slow starter
and the fact that he is still recovering from a hamate injury could slow him
down ever further. We can only hope for the best.
· The bullpen seems to be lacking. The
39 year old Luis Garcia looked less than imposing in the opener. Wonder why
Richard Lovelady is on the roster instead of Gregory Soto who looked lights out
in a Pirates uniform.
· Getting only five innings from
Peralta. I know, I know it’s only the first game, but starters need to go
deeper, especially with less than a stellar pen.
· Torrens is the only non-regular
assured of playing time. Hopefully, not more than 35-40 starts. There is no
role for Taylor as a defensive replacement and Young should only play in case
of an emergency. Platooning Baty would be counter productive. It would not be a
surprise if Mendoza sits Benge and Baty against a starting lefty to get Taylor
and Vientos at bats.
What was especially impressive were the long at bats and making pitchers work hard to get outs. If the team continues this trend of being more contact oriented they will have a very successful season.
The starting pitching should be solid with expected bounce back years from Peterson and Senga. Let’s not forget Peterson was an all-star last season and Senga was a Cy Young favorite before he got hurt.
It is imperative that they get off to a strong start and beat up on the non-playoff teams for the next three weeks. Anything less than a 70% win rate would be less than acceptable.
Ray
March 28,
2026
3 comments:
They did get, and make, breaks against last year’s Cy Young winner. If that first three two pitch to Lindor was an inch too closer, he may have gotten a punch out in the whole game would’ve gone differently. The check swing hit in that first inning also helped. But there was some great bats. Of course, it also helped that their centerfielder was on Quaaludes. He misplayed Beatty‘s shot into a triple for three runs, and then dropped or completely missed a pop fly to Center. So Skenes had plenty of help and bad luck to get to those five runs, but the Mets hitters were relentless, something that we didn’t see much last year. The relentless nature of their at bats reminded me of the 1986 Mets.
The ball pen does same thin. Hopefully Minter and Raley will toughen it up.
Jayne Mansfield said 96 OR BUST.
Take th misplays every time without excuse! God know the Mets will have some of those themselves
Benge & Robert need time playing together. There were a couple of gap shots that looked a bit sketchy during the game.
Post a Comment