Reese Kaplan -- Bad Timing for These Thoughts After the Tampa Series

As difficult as it is to be a day-by-day Mets fan, add in the wrinkle of having spent the previous two weeks more-or-less traipsing around upper and lower Egypt examining antiquities in 119 degree heat, both on foot and on the back of a probably aggravated pair of camels who could easily support my wife’s weight but likely struggled under mine.  During that long overdue vacation I have been away from the Mets news, the Mets winning streak and the first place position in the NL East.  

At this point rather than offer up my own opinions on what’s gone right all of the sudden, I’d like to take a collection of you readers to a watering hole for some adult beverages to have my Mets-related gaps addressed.  Obviously there has been terrific pitching and some uncharacteristic hitting from a team still 14th in the National League for offensive stats.  No matter how well your team pitches, if they’re not hitting then it’s doubly difficult to win games.

Of course, it hasn’t all been sweetness and light with the injuries to Brandon Nimmo, Albert Almora and J.D. Davis.  These unfortunate circumstances have forced a somewhat unexpected coterie of reserve players and minor-league call-ups to take their place in the field.  Jonathan Villar has become a semi-regular.  Kevin Pillar is going to see a lot of time in the outfield and people who were not even on the preseason radar are going to log innings on the diamond.  

Then, of course, came the big blow when Jacob deGrom was lifted from a game for precautionary measures when he felt tightness.  You don’t fool around with any pitchers, particularly the ones with a pair of Cy Young Award trophies at home on a fireplace mantle.  News, fortunately, doesn’t seem to be all that bad and the 10-day IL stint is a proper precaution for rest and should allow time for the pain to dissipate.  

Still, as I look down the lineup there are an awful lot of folks struggling with their at-bats.  It’s a well known phenomenon for early spring training to see pitchers dominating over hitters as they have had a bit more practice, but it’s May already now and it’s hard to give that excuse much weight.  The team is not designed nor oriented to play small ball, but with the dearth of extra base hitting it might be something worth trying at least on a short term basis to ensure the runners move from station to station rather than get stranded out there waiting for the mythical three-run homer that never transpires.

While a lot of good press has been given to the fine starts by Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker, the fact is that the bullpen is the area that should be causing the most astonishment.  After all, without Seth Lugo starting the season it would seem that the bullpen would be a major liability.  After all, some of the arms counted upon in key situations have faltered regularly in the recent past.  

Jeurys Familia (REALLY?) and Aaron Loup are leading the bullpen surge with ERAs below 1.00 in 12 and 11 IP respectively.  Trevor May is at 2.03.  Miguel Castro is at 2.77.  The much-maligned Robert Gsellman is at 3.00.  The one that’s a little harder to understand is closer Edwin Diaz’ good but not outstanding 3.14 ERA but he has 5 saves in 5 save opportunities.  There have been a few disappointments and a few single/dual inning recent arrivals but this core has been rock solid without Dellin Betances taking innings away from them.  

So what has been the most surprising thing you’ve seen during this recent hot streak bereft with injuries?