We all heard about the moves the Mets made this offseason and the offensive changes are really beginning to appear in full view on a day in and day out basis. This lineup presents different looks to their opponents and navigating through it is a chore most pitching staffs will not be able to handle.
Hitters like Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano and Michael Conforto are not only a trio of great bats but appear with an approach to the plate that comes with the flexibility of being changed within a tough at-bat. For Conforto, having a full spring training gave him the ability to experiment with things in Port St Lucie. And that has benefited him so much in the early season as his two-strike approach allows him to foul off the tough pitches while waiting for that one mistake which he pounces on in big situations.
But Mickey Callaway also has other threats in this lineup whether you are talking about the sweet swinging Jeff McNeil or the power of Pete Alonso which is a duo that fits in so nicely with the other sticks in this lineup. There is speed in the order with players like Amed Rosario and Brandon Nimmo and the depth of the bats the Mets put there every game does not force Callaway to rely on one or two players while at the same time gives him a deep bench to assist in the building of late inning runs.
The Mets deep lineup has averaged 6.27 runs per game through the first 11 games, ranking fifth in baseball and third in the National League. Alonso (1.313 OPS), Conforto (1.134 OPS), and McNeil (.972) have played a significant part in the Mets high-scoring offense.
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The Mets are heading on the road with the first two stops in Atlanta and Philadelphia–who both possess very good lineups that the Met pitchers will try to tame. And I think this Met lineup will give those team’s hurlers fits which makes things easier on the Mets. It all speaks to the depth of the team that Brodie Van Wagenen built in the offseason, but also makes it hard on the rest of the NL East who must both get runs off the best staff in the division while trying to shut down a Met lineup that has been very efficient offensively for the most part in the early season.
It’s still early, but in their encounters in the NL East I have already seen a deep team that can win in a myriad of ways. If the pitching falters, their hitting could save the day and on most days, the pitching staff puts up zeros so the offense is not forced to do too much.
That being said, the bullpen has been spotty but that happens in the course of a long season. For the rest of NL East, the scary thing is not everything has to go the Mets way to win a game. For the first time in a long time, this Met team does not have to have all of the planets line up for them to put one in ‘The W” column. That is what depth does for you–it provides an insurance policy of sorts. And that makes me believe 2019 will be a very special summer for Met fans.
