Former Mets All-Star catcher Mike Piazza threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Sunday’s Subway Series finale at Citi Field. He expressed confidence in the 2015 Mets as they move closer to clinching the playoffs for the first time in nine years.
“You start believing you can beat anybody, that’s the key,” said Piazza. “It seems like they’re at that point now. They know if they’re going to play their game, they’re going to win.”
The Mets were once trailing the Nats in the NL East division by 3 games on July 31 but now own a six game lead with 13 games left to play. Baseball Prospectus has their chances of making the postseason at 98.1 percent.
Earlier today I saw a tweet by our own Joe D. who said the Mets are a combined 37-14 against the Braves, Reds, Phillies and Nationals whom they closeout the season against.
And while the young starting pitching may be tiring somewhat of late, the Mets still have the fourth best ERA in the majors this season, and they also lead the NL in runs scored since the All Star break.
When asked to compare his 2000 team to the 2015 team, Piazza mentioned: “That was a long time ago. Do I see some similarities? I think each time is unique. I think that this team, obviously, has some really amazing guys on the mound, and we did as well.”
Another thing I saw brought up today was that for all the writers talking about Mets collapses, at this time in 2007 the Mets lead had already shrunk down to 2 1/2 games while the Mets are still comfortably at a six game cushion.
Anyway, it was good to see Piazza at the game on Sunday and better still to hear him talk so confidently about our team and their chances to go all the way.
