Optimism always runs high when Spring Training opens, no matter the team, no matter the expectations. The 2020 New York Mets are no exception. Though, they appear to have the talent to back up the lofty goals they’re setting for themselves.
Mets outfielder Michael Conforto — personally looking to build off of his solid 2019 (.257/.363/.494, 33 HR, 92 RBIs, 126 wRC+, 3.7 fWAR) — has a bright outlook for this year’s ballclub.
“We feel like we’re a team that should be [in the playoffs]. We hung tight with the Nationals all year. We felt like we played at that level. So it’s a confident group,” Conforto said. “We feel very, very good about where we’re at as a team.”
“We’re young, we’ve always had the pitching, we need to tighten up the baserunning, the defense, and hit a little bit better, situationally,” the 26-year-old told the team’s media corps. “But as far as we feel as players, we feel like a team that can really be competitive and be playing baseball in October.”
The Mets won 13 of 19 over Washington last season, to be exact. And they most certainly have the pitching — rotational and relief — to hang with the best teams in baseball.
The hurler heading up the Flushing Five this season is looking to add some more hardware to his trophy case this season, and he’s just the guy to be leading that charge.
Beyond the allure of bringing home a third straight National League Cy Young Award, 31-year-old right-hander Jacob deGrom has his eyes set on a more prestigious, much more elusive prize.
“Any time you’re at your best, personally, you’re gonna help the team,” deGrom told reporters. “You set personal goals […] but most importantly it’s a team game and I want to win a World Series.”
DeGrom, along with Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, Steven Matz, Rick Porcello, and whoever else assumes a role within the Mets’ starting rotation this season, acts as a solid foundation in achieving that goal.
The bullpen is littered with elite-level arms in Seth Lugo, Edwin Diaz, Dellin Betances — who declared he’d be ready for Opening Day on Tuesday — and Jeurys Familia. The lineup is the deepest this franchise has had in some time and its potential for greatness is at its zenith.
Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Conforto, Pete Alonso, Robinson Cano, Amed Rosario, Wilson Ramos, and the potential depth in Yoenis Cespedes and Jed Lowrie that could be residing on the bench with J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith, and Jake Marisnick, put these high hopes within reach.
This team has all the parts necessary to do some serious damage in the NL East this season. That will be no easy task considering the level of talent strewn about the division, but the locomotive is gaining speed.
Baseball Prospectus released their PECOTA rankings this week. Those fine folks have the Mets winning their division and bestowed on them the second-highest playoff odds in the NL (75.3 percent; Dodgers have a 99.9 percent chance of making the postseason, per BP).
In his first press conference of the spring, Mets skipper Luis Rojas told reporters this team was “built to win”, adding, “We expect to be a contender”. It appears he’s not alone.
High expectations bring along even higher pressure to succeed. Let’s see if this group can rise to the challenge.
