Photo Credit: Howard Simmons/ New York Daily News
When you think of great baseball over the years, the New York Mets definitely don’t come to mind. However, it seems like they might have finally gotten their act together. Of course, this season is less than a month in, but they continue to surprise everyone. What is the most surprising is they are doing it with a lot of key injuries.
We all knew there would be some buzz around Citifield this season with the return of starting pitcher Matt Harvey. While Harvey has been lighting it up with 24 strikeouts in his first three games, he has not been the biggest highlight the far. Losing David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud, many thought the Mets would come back down to Earth and struggle offensively. This team has proven resilient and has found ways to scratch out wins. They have gotten a lot of help with their opponents seemingly making errors on routine plays allowing the Mets to have big innings.
Okay, again it is too early to really say the Mets can contend this season, however it is fun to have some excitement back in Queens. This team is off to its best start since 1986, its last World Series win, and it is giving fans hope again. Citifield is filled for the first time since it opened and fans “truly believe”. At 11-3 this team has definitely overachieved, but have they finally turned the corner of being an embarrassment?
This fan base has a lot to believe in after seeing all these prospects finally making it in the big leagues. Last night, top catching prospect Kevin Plawecki made his debut, picking up his first major league hit and throwing out a runner trying to advance on a ball in the dirt. This has to bring back flashbacks to some of the great catchers the Mets have had in the past including Gary Carter and Mike Piazza. Despite losing Zach Wheeler for the season, this pitching staff has also dazzled, containing to go deep into games and get out of jams. Their bullpen has lost one of its best arms in Jerry Blevins and has suffered since, but with the way their offense is going it hasn’t mattered. Curtis Granderson finally woke up last night after failing to get an RBI before last night. The most clear clue that this team has turned it around is that all of these wins have come against NL East opponents. A division where they have constantly been in the cellar is now a division they are owning.
