New York Mets captain, David Wright wants everyone to know it’s not time to hop on the “panic city” train just yet. Five games into the extremely young season, the team stands at a 2-3 record after dropping their latest series to the Phillies this past weekend.
“The track record, I think, speaks for itself of the guys in our lineup,” Wright said. “But, at the same time, the goal right now is to win games. We didn’t do that the last couple of days, and we’re upset at that. But the last thing we need to do is guys start revamping their swings or making adjustments they don’t need to make, because in this game you’re going to run through two, three, four days a week where things just aren’t going right.” (ESPN New York)
The team’s offense to start the season has looked more like the early 2015 offense, one of which mustered the worst batting average, slugging percentage and runs scored in the game. This though is a different club. Yoenis Cespedes, who may be starting to heat up, hit a two-run bomb for the Mets’ only offense during Sunday’s 5-2 loss. We have a full year of Michael Conforto as well as depth that the 2015 team did not see until late July. This is a professional ballclub.
“If we get this thing going in the direction, I think, we’re capable of, and if you look at the back of these guys’ baseball cards, I don’t think anybody in here should feel too worried at this moment, Wright said. But, at the same time, let’s win some games so we don’t have to continuously keep talking about it.”
Through the first week of play in the 2016 campaign the Mets are hitting an MLB-worst .180 with only 14 runs scored. The pitching though has been where it was expected to be, at a dominant 2.05 ERA. It’s worth noting that this was a very strange week of games with all of the off days and cold weather. It is hard to get into any rhythm when you are not playing continuously.
“Guys are upset when we lose. But when you look at the big picture of things, we’re still trying to get our feet under us at the beginning of the season,” Wright said. “Again, we want to win. And we’re going out there preparing to win. It’s just sometimes you get in these little funks and you get outplayed for a couple of days. I don’t think it’s anything more than that. You don’t see any panicked looks on the faces.”
This is a team with a lot of solid players, many of whom have proven track records. It is too early to be panicking about a team like this. Players have yet to hit any type of stride, and when they do, the wins will come.
It’s worth noting that both the 1986 and 2015 Mets started off their seasons 2-3. It seemed to work out pretty good for those guys in the end. The Mets begin a three game series with the Marlins at Citi Field. for three games, before embarking on a nine-day, nine-game road trip to play the Indians, Phillies and Braves. It looks like a good opportunity for the Mets to win some games and get their offense on track.
