Reese Kaplan -- The Big Boys Are Ready to Face the Mets

To some folks this series with the Braves is make or break time for the New York Mets.  

After all, they have been in first place ahead of the Braves for much of the season, but the chinks in the armor have surfaced recently and the Mets followers have not been enamored with the patient approach taken by the front office when other clubs went out to obtain star caliber players while the Mets were tinkering with platoon players and a lesser-regarded relief pitcher while more conspicuous names were readily available.

Now let's not take anything away from the early positive performance and reception of Daniel Vogelbach.  His first Mets homer was one for the record books as it went down the right field line for a Grand Slam on Wednesday to make the club take a sizable lead over the now hapless Washington Nationals who gave up not only Juan Soto but also Josh Bell as they threw in the towel on the 2022 season.  

On the flip side, the normally reliable Mychal Givens turned in a ghastly performance for his Mets debut, giving up five runs in his 2/3 of an inning outing.  Seth Lugo had to be summoned to salvage a 9-0 lead that rapidly became a 9-5 9th inning.  Fortunately Lugo was able to come in, give up a single hit but finished out the game to allow the Mets to salvage a late rally by the Nationals and emerge with a victory.  

Lost somewhat in the shuffle was a one inning return by the long-injured Trevor May who also gave up a hit, but struck out a batter and did not sacrifice any runs in his 8th inning stint.  Granted, he was not facing a minor league lineup but he wasn't up against the best of the best either.  Still, it was good to see a solid return from someone the Mets really need to deliver during August, September and hopefully October.

The Braves have some very solid offense and some pitching that at least deserves respect.  Matt Olson, Dansby Swanson, Austin Riley and Marcell Ozuna are all hitting for power.  Swanson, Michael Harris and Ronald Acuna, Jr. are all running with abandon.  Max Fried, Kyle Wright and Spencer Strider are all delivering well in the starting rotation.  

The bullpen has been a little up and down, but lately has been more positive than negative.  The Mets certainly appear to have their work cut out for them.  

Of course, on the New York side it's not exactly an open walk for Atlanta.  Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and Brandon Nimmo are not exactly a walk in the park.  Mark Canha has been solid though perhaps not worth the money they're paying him.  Eduardo Escobar and the catchers have been disappointments overall.  

Where the Mets can really hurt the opposition is with the starting rotation that includes two multiple Cy Young Award winners in Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, an All Star in Taijuan Walker, and two other solid starters in Chris Bassitt and Carlos Carrasco.  That rotation is what was envisioned when the season began and now it's finally come to fruition.  

The bullpen has been shaky at times and solid at other times.  With Edwin Diaz operating on a whole other stratosphere, Trevor May back again, Seth Lugo, Mychal Givens (despite his horrific opening day for the Mets), Trevor Williams and an assortment of others not named Joely Rodriguez, the Mets bullpen is a bit better than they have enjoyed in previous years.  

Yes, how the hitting and pitching align during this five game series means an awful lot in the stream of things, but even if the Mets go 2-3 it doesn't mean the year is over.  There's still a lot of time on the calendar and the Mets have to show they are capable of withstanding adversity.  The Mets have a very good team and need to demonstrate they are capable of taking on strongest competition in the division. LFGM!!!