A reader sent me a link to this 2015 NL Preview from FanGraphs who project the Mets to have a 79-83 season. That total seems very low to me, and basically their expecting the Mets to have a season similar to last year. Here’s their glass half full, glass half empty takes:
Reasons for optimism
When Matt Harvey was last healthy, he was as good as any other pitcher in the whole entire world. He’s healthy now, again, and this should be the year that Noah Syndergaard arrives. Throw in an improving Zack Wheeler and a breakout Jacob deGrom and there’s plenty to hang your hat on. On the position-player side, one hopes that rest and recovery will allow David Wright to return to being a force, and Juan Lagares is perhaps baseball’s best example of a guy who contributes star-level performance while leading with his defense.
Reasons for pessimism
The same concerns that apply to Jose Fernandez apply to Matt Harvey, and Wheeler still has issues with his walks. deGrom might get worse just as fast as he got better, and it’s not like Wright is certain to get back to what he was when he was younger and awesome. If Lagares is the most exciting position player, he’s also a position player who projects to be a below-average hitter. It’s a poor man’s boom-or-bust ballclub. Does that still count as a boom-or-bust ballclub?
I’ll tell you what, the players would certainly disagree with this projection and many of them fully expect this team to be playing in the postseason this year.
David Wright recently told Kevin Kernan of the NY Post:
“For me, personally, last year sucked,” said Wright, who struggled all last season with an injured shoulder, before shutting his season down in September. “I want to make sure that never happens again. If I do what I’m capable of doing, we’re a different lineup.”
“I fully expect us to be in the playoffs,’’ Wright later told Kernan. “It’s not coming out here and boasting, but I think – where we stand right now – we’re a much better team than we were last year and in years past. You win with young, dominant pitching and we have quite a bit of that. And, offensively, we are going to be better than we have been.”
Jacob deGrom is also optimistic about a postseason run for the Mets telling Kernan:
“I think this year is going to be a lot of fun. We should have a really good team,” he said. “I think for sure we should be playing in October. Everybody plays to go to the World Series. Hopefully it all comes together this year.”
We’ve heard similar expectations from many other players this offseason including Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda, and Matt Harvey who says he would expect nothing less than the playoffs this season.
We’ve heard quotes like this before, but mostly from Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson – who are supposed to talk like that – never from the players, this is new. You get the real sense these guys mean business this year and I for one can’t wait for this season to get underway already.
How many games do you think the Mets will win this season?
