The 2018 Mets could very well end up being one of, if not the most interesting team to follow this year. The team has the talent to win 95-100 games if everything breaks right. They also have the ability to lose 80-90 games if everything falls apart.
There is one word to keep in mind the whole year:
Redemption.
That is the thing many on this team are trying to achieve this year. Whether it be personal or as a team it strikes this team in many forms.
The landscape of that redemption is as volatile as this team’s projections this season.
Kevin Plawecki and Travis d’Arnaud both hope to shed the labels of being a disappointing catching tandem the team should have moved on from a couple of years ago. The former is trying to continue the progress as a prospect after appearing to be stunted in his development for a couple of years. The latter is trying to reclaim the form of his 2015 self and become the top catcher the Mets traded R.A. Dickey for in 2012.
In the case of Adrian Gonzalez, he is just trying to prove he can still play the game he loves the last 15 years. After playing miserably last season, he is joining the Mets at the minimum just hoping to play well enough to stick in the league.
In the cases of players like Dominic Smith, Gavin Cecchini, and Brandon Nimmo, they are trying to prove that they aren’t busts and that they can find themselves again. They have all worked on themselves in ways ranging from losing 30 pounds to slim or significant swing changes.
Furthermore, they have a center fielder, Juan Lagares trying to prove that he can do more than just make dazzling plays in center field. After working with Craig Wallenbrook on his swing, he is looking to show the world that he was worth every penny of the four-year, $23 million contract extension he signed with the team back in 2015.
In the starting rotation that got a plethora of pitchers trying to redeem themselves. Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman are on a mission to prove that they were not just flukes in 2016 when they helped the team secure a playoff spot.
Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler tries to prove himself worthy of a rotation spot again after failing to earn the job even with Jason Vargas going down to start the year. The former top prospect still has the potential to be very effective, whether that be as a starter or a reliever.
Steven Matz is also working to prove to the team that he can rebound from his disastrous and injury-riddled 2017 season. He still has top-quality stuff, that, when healthy could allow him to turn into one of the best lefties in baseball.
Even Noah Syndergaard feels some need to redeem himself after making a poor decision to pitch through a torn lat that forced him to miss the majority of the season last year.
And the most obvious case of this is Matt Harvey, who is still trying to prove to himself, and everyone else, that he can still pitch like an ace and be the alpha dog in the rotation. The form of 2015 is, at the very least what he is trying to get back to. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome has made that a difficult task, but he will try to get back there, albeit with limited velocity.
Lastly, we have the case of David Wright, who is by far the least likely to find his past form. Unfortunately, spinal stenosis has completely destroyed this man’s career. However, if he miraculously makes it back to the field this season it will be the best storyline for the Mets and all of baseball this season.
So, as it can be seen, there are going to be a lot of players on this team looking to find something of their past back this season.
These players have all been given tough situations to rebound from, and while some of these situations were of their own doing, they have dealt with adversity.
Adversity, though, is one of the most important things to deal with in life.
Yes, nobody likes it in the moment. It’s painful and obviously extremely rough to deal with. However, the person that successfully finds themselves on the other side of this dilemma, ends up being stronger than the person who entered.
So, when people ask me why I still like this team going into the season, this is what I point them to. They are a group with a lot of problems, some of which maybe are going to be too difficult to overcome.
If they do find a way to get past these issues, this could be the makings of something special. This could be a collective group that has found a way to get past a variety of challenges in order to reach a common goal: winning.
That could allow for the Mets to have a group of fighters out on the field. Sure, maybe this isn’t the most talented team going into the season.
Should we care about that, right now? Not necessarily. I couldn’t care less whether the team is destined to win a title today. What I care about is whether they can get there, and I think the answer is yes.
The point is that this group has the attitude to go out and prove everybody wrong. Not every team has that. We have all seen some very talented teams disappoint epically in the regular season for a variety of reasons.
Some of those teams lacked the type of character the Mets currently have, such as the 2012 Boston Red Sox.
That team on paper looked as good as anyone’s club. However, they had a self-destructive clubhouse full personalities that didn’t mesh well along with some players that just did not care about the team’s success.
This team will not have that if they somehow sort out there issues. They will be one of the most motivated teams in the league looking to deal with any problems they face head-on.
I’m not sitting here today telling you they are going to win a World Series. What I am saying is this: they could prove to have as much fight as any team we have ever seen.
They have some good clubhouse presences that could very well learn from their mishaps and struggles in their careers to date, to put a product out on the field that might be something special.
At the end of the day, we won’t know until we see this team take the field. I can’t wait to see what this team can do, though, as I believe this is going to be one of the easiest teams for me to root for as a Mets fan.
One of my teacher’s in high school once said that empathy is an emotion that not everyone can feel, but it is a special ability to be able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Although, I honestly don’t think we have to look very hard to see the adversity and the difficulties this team has been through.
We’ve all dealt with pain in our lives. We’ve all had to overcome things. Baseball has a way of being reminiscent of our lives, and the 2018 New York Mets could be one of the most relateable teams we have ever witnessed.
They have come into this season with one goal.
Redemption.
