This season has been nothing short of ridiculous for the New York Mets. With a pitiful month of May and an even worse month of June, the team was sitting at a season-low of 11 games under .500 and 14 games back from a playoff spot. To most, the obvious choice of going into the trade deadline was to sell what you can and try again in 2020.

With key players like Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler being brought up in trade talks, most fans became confused as to what the front office was trying to achieve. Surely if you are going to remove key pieces of your rotation you are going to be going into a rebuild type mode. But why rebuild when you signed Jacob deGrom to a five-year extension and already have a young core in Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Amed Rosario, J.D. Davis, and Dominic Smith?

The confusion only spiked when the Mets traded for Marcus Stroman prior to the deadline, who held a 3.18 ERA and 1.261 WHIP in the first half of the season while pitching against a stacked AL East. Most people had a knee jerk reaction, but some held out to see what would be done with Syndergaard and Wheeler before generating an opinion on the trade. When the deadline hit and both pitchers were still in Queens, it became clear that the Mets were once again in a win-now mode. 

The trade deadline seemed to light a fire in the clubhouse and no player was better tinder than Pete Alonso. With his social media statement and his coining of the new LFGM hashtag, Pete made all fans believers again. With twitter rallying behind him, he took the Mets onto a second-half ride to winning 13 of their last 14 games. 

Although Pete seems to be the fire under everyone’s butts, there have been some key players who have stepped up to the plate and made it clear that they are here to win as well. J.D Davis has been a solid bat for the Mets, boasting a .300 batting average and a .867 OPS. Davis has been a pleasant surprise all season long and made himself a significant part of the team, proving to be a solid bat and a good utility man capable of playing third base and left field. 

Out in the bullpen, Seth Lugo has been a saving grace. While the “Quarterican” has had some bad moments, he has proven to be a reliable bullpen piece for the Mets. This season Lugo has kept himself at a 2.59 ERA while holding batters to a .194 BA when coming in during a close game. 

Since coming off the IL from an elbow injury, Justin Wilson has been a key arm in the bullpen. With an ERA of 0.79 since the beginning of July coming into Wednesday’s game, he has provided a sense of relief in the struggling bullpen. 

True to his word, Noah Syndergaard has shown that he really is a second-half player. With early struggles, many fans wondered if his peak had come and gone, but with his most recent starts, there is no denying that Syndergaard will be just fine. In his last five starts, the 26-year-old has made it through seven innings all while bringing his ERA back under 4.00. 

With Zack Wheeler’s last start against the White Sox, Mets fans can only hope that he has begun to shape into the true second half Wheeler that was seen last season. At their best, both Syndergaard and Wheeler are key pieces to the rotation’s success. 

Because of players like Jeff McNeil, who has been batting over .300 all season long, and Pete Alonso, who has accumulated 36 home runs so far this season, the Mets have had little to no problems producing at the plate in recent games. Not to mention, Michael Conforto has found himself at the plate and begun to produce the way every Met fan hoped he could. 

The real issue for the Mets is their dwindling bullpen. With Edwin Diaz struggling and Jeurys Familia being consistently inconsistent, there is a need for bullpen fortification. While Lugo has been a steady arm in the pen, he can not do everything by himself. 

If the Mets are as serious about winning as they say they are, they need to go after more bullpen arms. Whether that is adding pitchers like Greg Holland and Brad Brach now or taking an aggressive approach in the offseason, something has to be done. 

For now, though, it’s pretty safe to say that the Mets have become a real fun team to watch and have proven that they still have a lot of fight left in them.