Here we are, just five days away from players reporting to Spring Training 2.0 at Citi Field.
As most of you know, Major League Baseball has announced the 2020 regular season will open in approximately one month, on July 23 or 24.
“Major League Baseball is thrilled to announce that the 2020 season is on the horizon,” league commissioner Rob Manfred said in a news release.
“We have provided the Players Association with a schedule to play 60 games and are excited to provide our great fans with Baseball again soon.”
Although official schedules have yet to be released, we do know how the breakdown looks for the New York Mets as follows:
- 10 games vs. Nationals
- 10 games vs. Phillies
- 10 games vs. Braves
- 10 games vs. Marlins
- 4 games vs. Yankees
- 4 games vs. Red Sox
- 4 games vs. Rays
- 4 games vs. Orioles
- 4 games vs. Blue Jays
Let’s be frank, baseball isn’t cut out to be played over a 60-game season. What was once a marathon is now a sprint and that means any and all things could happen.
The Washington Nationals were 27-33 after 60 games last season, six games under. 500, and they ended up winning the World Series.
There will be none of that in 2020. Instead teams will need to get out front of the season early and then stay there. One five-game losing streak and you could be done for the season.
I believe the regular season is going to have a postseason feel right from Opening Day and the intensity is going to be off the charts.
Everything will be magnified, every mistake, every error, every bad outing, every bad call. The pressure will be on.
Good fundamentals — or fundies as Keith Hernandez likes to call them — are going to be more important than ever. Good defensive players will be at a premium. (Can we get Juan Lagares back?)
Given this extremely abbreviated schedule coupled with all the new rule changes, it’s tough to predict how well or bad the Mets will do.
That said, I’m very high on our offense and I do believe this team will score runs in bunches. With Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and Yoenis Cespedes in the middle of the lineup, there’ll be no shortage of power.
However, I’m not as confident on the other side of the ball. While the Mets are very fortunate to have Jacob deGrom and Marcus Stroman heading the rotation, I’m concerned about the rest of the makeup.
The bullpen, as usual, is wrought with questions and our closer Edwin Diaz has a lot to prove. The Mets were smart to add Dellin Betances as a fallback option.
It’s going to be a strange season to be sure, but I’m hoping it will be an exciting season as well. The 2020 season will be a baseball season like no other.
