Here come the New York Mets… In what’s becoming an annual rite of summer, manager Terry Collins has his team back to their winning ways after what Jacob deGrom described as getting their teeth kicked in by the Dodgers in Los Angeles nine days ago.
Once again, the Mets are surging and gaining some momentum only a week after many declared them dead and buried. You have to hand it to this team and their manager for battling back as they have, and yes they still have a long way to go.
“It shows you they didn’t get down,” manager Terry Collins said. “They didn’t pack up and go home. They showed up every day and played hard. We’re hoping our pitching starts to fall into place right now, and if it does, we’ve got an exciting second half ahead of us.”
Of course we’ve all seen this before. The season started with such high expectations coming out of spring training. But then a frustrating April where nothing seemed to go right, got even worse as the team was rocked by one significant injury after another including Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Jeurys Familia, Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker.
Even I lost faith with the team as I began looking toward next season and was left wondering what the Mets could get for Lucas Duda, Jay Bruce, Addison Reed, Jerry Blevins and others at the trade deadline.
I wasn’t alone either, as a somber Sandy Alderson rang the alarm after his team sunk to nine games under .500, essentially saying the Mets were ready to listen to offers for their key players. But now Sandy is clearly back in Ya Gotta Believe mode which I gotta tell you, it was exciting to see.
“The problem with the National League East this year is that we’re quite a ways out. But there’s really nobody ahead of us that we can’t catch other than Washington, and we may catch them as well,” Alderson said Friday night.
I love it. Just when you think you are out, the Mets drag you back in. It’s all part of the agony and ecstasy of being a Met fan, a phenomenon that has defined us ever since those Lovable Losers broke into the National League in 1962.
So once again the Mets seem to be on the brink of another one of those heart-thumping runs to the post season after being left for dead on the side of the road on Hollywood Boulevard.
A week ago, all the talk was selling at the trade deadline and getting rid of everyone who wasn’t chained to their lockers for 2018 and beyond. But now the tide has shifted as the the Amazins have bounced back and won six of their last seven games including Friday night’s 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I think we have to be a little more optimistic after the last six days than we were coming out of Los Angeles,” Alderson said. “But I think that time will tell. … I think we’ll have a little better idea of where we are at the break.
Alderson usually plays his cards close to the vest, but last night he didn’t sound like a GM ready to unload at the deadline. Far from it, he pointed to one of the team’s primary needs and he’s on the lookout for some upgrades for a beleaguered bullpen.
“I think our bullpen can always be upgraded,” Alderson revealed. “We’re always looking to upgrade the bullpen.”
There’s still four weeks to go before the trade deadline, but if the Mets continue to pile up wins and get themselves to .500 before the All Star break it changes everything.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Mets are getting themselves right back into the thick of it, and I couldn’t care less that they’re doing it against the likes of the Giants, Marlins and Phillies. A win is a win and in one short week the Mets have gone from 13.5 games back in the wild card standings to nine games.
Of course the Mets still have a lot of work to do and it’s far from over. But this wild card race has suddenly become a lot more interesting and every time the Mets tally another victory this storyline becomes more and more compelling.
With Jacob deGrom now entrenched as the ace of the team and left-hander Steven Matz back in the rotation and looking as good as ever, the current starting five are finally meeting those lofty expectations we expected back in April but never got. And they’re doing it without Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard.
I’m convinced the Mets would be best served by being both buyers and sellers at the deadline. Flipping a Lucas Duda and Curtis Granderson for a couple of bullpen pieces. And with that option for 2018, maybe trading Asdrubal Cabrera could open the door for top prospect Amed Rosario to take over at shortstop and bolster the team’s up the middle defense while providing a spark in the lineup.
I’m just thinking out loud, but it’s kind of exciting to see what’s happening right now with a team that’s essentially being held together with some paper clips, staples and glue. If we can close the gap and then get Walker, Syndergaard and Familia back to fuel a late season run, who knows just how far this team can go.
For now, I’m just keeping it real and enjoying watching the Mets play some good baseball again – and more importantly – winning again. No doubt, this has been a very rough season. But right now I like what I’m seeing and I’m gonna keep believing in this team until they give me a reason not to.
Let’s Go Mets.
