Jacob deGrom
In 2015, the Mets started out on the road, and they came home with a 2-3 record. Things would change quickly at home with the team reeling off 11 straight wins to improve their record to 13-3.
During that stretch, when the Mets had “only” five wins in a row, the team would have their first Friday evening game of the year. The fans responded to the palpable buzz surrounding the team in their first home stand by packing it in for that Friday night game. In total, there would be 38.753 fans at the game.
In 2016, the Mets would have World Series dreams after they had fallen just short to the Kansas City Royals last season. With the team opening the season on the road against the Royals, and Noah Syndergaard winning the second game featuring a mid 90s slider, the buzz for the team grew louder.
The first Friday game as a day game, and it was the home opener. With Jacob deGrom on the mound, there would be 44,099 fans in the stands. By the time the team’s first Friday night game rolled around, it was three weeks later, and the Mets were 14-7. With Steven Matz on the mound, there was 39,764 fans in the stands to watch the Mets take on the San Francisco Giants.
Last year, the Mets once again entered the season with World Series hopes and dreams. The team would open the season at home and were 2-1 heading into their first Friday night game of the season. In Zack Wheeler‘s return after two seasons on the disabled list, there would only be 27,891 fans at the game.
This year, the Mets have looked as good as they ever have. After an impressive 4-1 homestand to start the season, they went out and swept their first two series on the road to bring the Mets record to 10-1.
With a buzz surrounding this team, the Mets came home last night to their first Friday night game of the season. The fans responded to the Mets terrific play packing in Citi Field with 34,921 fans at the ballpark creating a great environment.
Mickey Callaway on the 34,921 strong at Citi Field: "It was electric. They help you. Our fans help us win. In big situations … the fans are our 10th man and they were electric tonight. It was so good to see everybody showing up. That's what makes this worth it." #Mets
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) April 14, 2018
Was the crowd as big as Friday night crowds in year’s back? No, but it was a good sized crowd who created a buzz in the ballpark. Ultimately, that’s a great job by Mets fans, who have once again proven just what a great fan base we all are. Seeing what last night’s crowd was, I can only imagine the crowds will only get bigger this weekend.
Lets Go Mets!
The Mets are 9-1, and they are now off to the best start in franchise history. However, right now, when it comes to the Mets, this isn’t even the biggest news of the season:
Saturday, April 7th at Washington – Steven Matz
Sunday, April 8th at Washington – Matt Harvey
Monday, April 9th at Miami – Noah Syndergaard
Tuesday, April 10th at Miami – Jacob deGrom
Wednesday, April 11th at Miami – Zack Wheeler
Sometime after 7:10 P.M., after the bottom of the first has ended, the dream will finally be realized. The Five Aces will have finally taken one turn through the rotation. What’s funny about it is the dream was thought to be dead.
In 2015, before Syndergaard and Matz were called up to the majors, Wheeler needed Tommy John surgery. As a result, this meant the dream, which was still in its infancy, would have to wait a year.
Heading into 2016, the Mets re-signed Bartolo Colon to help allow Wheeler to take his time in his rehab. He would have a number of setbacks, and he would never pitch in 2016. That year also saw deGrom, Harvey, and Matz befall season ending injuries themselves.
In 2017, the Mets were once again poised to have them all in the same rotation. However, Matz would need to begin the season on the disabled list. Syndergaard didn’t have an MRI and tore his lat. Harvey and Wheeler would find their way onto the disabled list with stress reactions after they had probably been rushed into the rotation before they were ready.
The progress in 2017 was they at least all made a start in the same season. That was something Generation K never did. In 1995, we saw Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher in the same rotation. Like with Wheeler, it was discovered Pulsipher needed Tommy John during the ensuing Spring Training. As a result, this meant it was just Isringhausen and Paul Wilson in the rotation.
In 1997, Isringhausen was the only one to pitch for the Mets with Wilson pitching in the minors with shoulder problems and Pulsipher experiencing depression and complications from Tommy John. Pulsipher would be the only one to pitch for the Mets in 1998 with Isringhausen hurt and Wilson hurt and in the minors.
In 1998, Pulipsher was the first to go. He was traded to the Brewers for Mike Kinkade. In 1999, it was Isringhausen’s turn to go as the Mets thought it better to use him to obtain Billy Taylor rather than use him in the bullpen.
Pulsipher came back to the organization in 2000, and he lost the Spring Training competition for the fifth starter spot to Glendon Rusch. Both he and Wilson would get traded that season as the Mets sought reinforcements in Lenny Harris, Bubba Trammell, and Rick White to help them win a World Series.
The odd thing about seeing Generation K all being traded away for supporting pieces was they were supposed to be the leading drive towards a World Series. Overall, they’d never appear in the same rotation, and they would pitch for the Mets in the postseason.
Seeing Generation K’s struggles makes what is happening tonight all the more remarkable. Not only are we finally seeing these five pitchers in the same rotation, but we have already seen them have the success we once expected from Generation K. In fact, they’ve been much more successful.
In many ways, seeing Wheeler start tonight is going to slay many demons for the entire Mets organization.
From the start the Mets have had and the seemingly magic tough Mickey Callaway has had, there is a lot more in store for the Mets. That said, short of David Wright taking the field again, it is going to be hard to envision a more powerful moment that will happen this (regular) season.
You know you have a good team when they bring it every day no matter what the circumstances. You know you have a great team when they always respond to adversity. They respond to a tough inning in the field with a good at-bat. When the opponent takes they lead, they come right back and tie the score.
Tonight was just the latest in seeing how this Mets team can be great.
In the first, Wilmer Flores doubled off Caleb Smith to score Michael Conforto, who led the game off with a double. In the fourth, Asdrubal Cabrera hit a monster home run:
Watch: Cabrera’s HOME RUN puts the Mets up 2-0!! pic.twitter.com/2c0L4R2KVu
— SportsNet New York (@SNYtv) April 11, 2018
In the fifth, Amed Rosario hit a double, and Conforto singled him home to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. With Jacob deGrom cruising, it seemed like this was going to be an easy game for the Mets.
Unfortunately, the fifth would prove to be an ugly inning for the Mets. It started with a Yadiel Rivera grounder to third, which probably should’ve been called foul and Mickey Callaway should’ve challenged but didn’t. We’d later see Todd Frazier deflect a ball he should’ve let go to Rosario, which led to the Marlins first run of the game.
The second run was scored on a Starlin Castro sacrifice fly. On the play, Conforto completely missed the cutoff man allowing Rojas to go to second. Justin Bour, who had a big night against the Mets, then homered to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead.
Where some teams would be shell-shocked, the Mets immediately responded with a Frazier double. He’d then get aggressive on the bases tagging up on a Cabrera fly ball to left field and beating Derek Dietrich‘s throw. After a Kevin Plawecki walk, this put him in position to score on the ensuing Juan Lagares sacrifice fly to tie the game at 4-4.
Surprisingly, given how Callaway has handled the pitching staff, deGrom came out to pitch a scoreless sixth. He’d get a no decision, and his final line was 6.0 innings, seven hits, four runs, four earned, one walk, and six strikeouts. Not a great start, but he did put his team in position to win the game. With better umpiring and some better defense, that line would have looked much better.
In the seventh, Jacob Rhame came into the game, and he just didn’t have it. The one none sacrifice out he got was a deep fly ball to center that probably would have gone for extra bases had it been someone other than Lagares out there. Rhame did have a chance to get out of the inning, but he made a mistake on the first pitch to Bour. Bour launched his second homer of the night giving the Marlins the lead against at 6-4.
Paul Sewald in just his second appearance of the year got the final out of the inning allowing the Mets a chance to comeback and tie the score.
Given how this Mets team has played so far this year, it should come as no surprise they did actually tie the score in the top of the eighth. Flores and Cabrera would both homer off Kyle Barraclough.
In the bottom of the inning, Hansel Robles and the Mets dodged a bullet as Bryan Holaday just missed a homer. Everyone but Robles, who probably wasn’t pointing up, thought that was out. Where many expected Robles to melt down, he bore down. He got out of the inning highlighted by punch out of Rojas to end the inning.
As a bad Marlins team will learn many times this year, you don’t give a good team like the Mets this many chances.
Brian Anderson threw a ball away allowing Rosario to reach safely instead of the Marlins recording the second out of the inning. Brad Ziegler followed the error by walking Conforto to put the game in Yoenis Cespedes‘ hands. Even with Cespedes being on a 1-20 cold streak, he still had the magic to deliver a two RBI double to give the Mets an 8-6 lead.
The two run lead was more than enough for the resurgent Jeurys Familia to close it out.
Ultimately, the Mets won this game because they are resilient. They won because Cabrera hit two huge homers. They won because they are embodying the spirit of Frazier who responds to every negative play with a positive one. They won because they’re a great team.
In fact, at the moment, you can argue they’re the greatest team in Mets history because they now have the best start to a season in Mets history with them standing with the best record in baseball at 9-1.
Game Notes: Before the game, Brandon Nimmo was sent down to Vegas to make room on the roster for Corey Oswalt. Oswalt was called up due to how taxed the bullpen has been early in the season.
The Mets Fan
I’m “the Uni Watch guy.” I write about uniform and logo design for ESPN and on my own website, Uni Watch.
How You Became A Mets Fan
I was born into a Mets family. One of the earliest life lessons I can remember getting from my big brother was that we rooted for the Mets and hated the Yankees. And thus has it ever been! I attended my first game — a 7-6 win over the Astros — in 1971 and still have the ticket stub to prove it.
Favorite Mets Player
When I first started rooting for the Mets, I somehow decided that I loved Tommie Agee. Not really sure why. Was also very fond of Jon Matlack during that period. Later became a huge Keith Hernandezfan. And always loved Ed Kranepool and thought they should have retired his number just because he played every season dating back to 1962. These days, I really like Jacob deGrom.
Favorite Moment in Mets History
The Buckner game, of course.
Message to Mets Fans
We all know we deserve better than the Wilpons, but the situation is what it is. Hang in there — we were in the World Series just a few years ago, so the pendulum can swing our way again.
In the Mets first two games against the Washington Nationals, they have let them know this isn’t going to be a repeat of the 2017 season. The Mets are back, and they are once again a force to be reckoned with.
Really, this series has been a time warp back to August 2015. There is Yoenis Cespedes hitting a big home run. Jacob deGrom out-pitched Stephen Strasburg. Every time the Nationals seem to get ahead, it seems like their bullpen lets them down while Jeurys Familia and the Mets bullpen steps up.
We’ve seen the Mets catchers in Travis d’Arnaud and Kevin Plawecki do a masterful job pitch framing. Their pitch framing has led to called third strikes directly leading to Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon getting ejected in consecutive games. Yes, the Rendon one was suspect, but when you’re so frustrated, you’re flipping the bat at home plate, you create an opportunity for an over-eager umpire to eject you.
Sure, you can say the Mets are not beating the Nationals at their best. Daniel Murphy is on the disabled list. Arguably their best player to start the season, Adam Eaton, went on the disabled list. They’re going to miss Max Scherzer in this three game set.
Name all the caveats you want, the Mets went to Washington, and so far, they have taken the first two games of this and the season series. As a result, the Mets are off to their best start since 2006. That season, the Mets were the best team in baseball, and they ran away with the division.
With Mickey Callaway at the helm, that and much more is possible. That much has been proven with the Mets taking the first two games from the Nationals.
In the Mets first game against the Nationals, the Mets let the Nationals and all of baseball know that at their best, this Mets team is as good as any in all of baseball. Now, that’s easy when you have Jacob deGrom on the mound, Michael Conforto returning to the lineup, and Yoenis Cespedes hitting homers. The next question and perhaps the real question is what happens when these factors weren’t present.
Well, with Steven Matz starting and Mickey Callaway giving Juan Lagares the start, the Mets were going to find out. As it so happened, those questions started to get answered in the second inning.
Brian Goodwin would draw a two out walk, and he’d quickly steal second base on the duo of Matz and Travis d’Arnaud. On a 3-2 with a chance to get out of the inning, Pedro Severino singled up the middle, and the speedy Goodwin dared challenge Lagares’ arm:
It’s automatic for @juanlagares2. ? pic.twitter.com/eNdLZpR5SG
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 7, 2018
That’s the Gold Glove Lagares who re-emerged last year. Whether or not his new swing and approach are for rule almost seems inconsequential when he plays center this way.
Another note here is in this game, you got to see all that d’Arnaud is as a catcher. When his pitchers aren’t even bothering to hold on base runners, much like Matz didn’t in this game, he’s not going to have a real shot to throw out anyone trying to steal a base. The Nationals know that better than anyone, and they stole five bases in five attempts off of him.
However, he offsets that deficiency in other ways. As we see in the Lagares play, he’s exceptional in fielding a throw, blocking the plate, and getting the tag down. Really, he’s the best catcher in baseball on the front. He’s also a very good pitch framer. That came into play on a day when Mets pitchers would record 10 strikeouts while walking just three.
That pitch framing led not to not just a third inning strikeout of Anthony Rendon, it also led to his ejection on what was a horrible overreaction by Home Plate Umpire Marty Foster:
Anthony Rendon got ejected for this? pic.twitter.com/2moGgjPOWK
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) April 7, 2018
That ejection was the Mets gain because Rendon is a great player who kills the Mets.
Even with Matz pitching well, the Mets still could not get ahead of Gio Gonzalez. That’s not unusual because he came into this game 14-5 with a 2.93 ERA against the Mets in his career. That left the Mets with little margin for error. That margin of error went away on two plays centered around Todd Frazier.
The first play was in the fourth inning. Jay Bruce hit a two out double to right. The much maligned Glenn Sherlock could have sent Frazier to have him challenge Bryce Harper‘s arm. It would make sense with two outs and Matz due up next. Instead, Sherlock stopped Frazier, and Matz struck out.
This decision was magnified in the fifth when Frazier threw a ball away on a Michael Taylor grounder. After a Goodwin sacrifice bunt, Severino plated him with an RBI single giving the Nationals a 1-0 lead.
What made the game interesting and the start of this season interesting was how the Mets immediately responded. In the sixth, Frazier atoned for his error by hitting an opposite field one out double that nearly went out. He’d then score on a d’Arnaud RBI single (the other aspect of his being a complete catcher) tying the game at 1-1. The Mets would have a chance to get the lead, but Jose Reyes could not deliver in a pinch hitting situation.
On came Hansel Robles.
To start the 2018 season, he has been a bit of a revelation. He went from send down to Triple-A to start the year to getting a big sixth inning opportunity against Harper. Mets fans expected him to melt down and point to the sky. Well, in his defense, it was a a really good pitch:
Great freeze frame on SNY of this Bryce Harper home run. Took a fastball that may have been off the outside edge and slammed it 107.7 mph + 405 ft the other way. pic.twitter.com/X577w2SJ3T
— Andrew Simon (@AndrewSimonMLB) April 7, 2018
All this proved was Harper is a great player. What Robles proved from there was he could settle in, limit the damage, and give the Mets a chance. The Mets took that chance with some exceptional base running in the seventh.
Amed Rosario led off the inning with a single up the middle, and he’d fly around the bases on the ensuing Asdrubal Cabrera RBI double getting just ahead of the Severino tag. Not to be outdone, Cabrera would go from second to third on a Cespedes grounder to short. Knowing Ryan Zimmerman can’t throw, the Cabrera, who can’t really run, read the situation perfectly and took the extra base.
After the pinch hitting Conforto was intentionally walked, Cabrera scored on a Frazier RBI groundout. The Mets finally had the lead at 3-2, and it was time to see if this so far improved Mes bullpen could hold the lead.
First up was AJ Ramos, who pithced a 1-2-3 seventh. Surprisingly, the next test went to Jacob Rhame.
Rhame proved up to the task by getting former Met Matt Reynolds to groundout. What was surprising was where Rhame succeeded, Jerry Blevins didn’t as he issued a one out walk to Harper. This set the stage for Jeurys Familia.
In what was his biggest moment since he faced Conor Gillaspie in the 2016 Wild Card Game, Familia was in a position to get a big save. With him needing to get five outs, he was going to be tested. That should say tested in theory. The Nationals were no match for him, and as a result, the Mets came away with a 3-2 victory.
It’s April and the season is barely a week old. However, this is a different Mets team. They’re getting the most out of every ounce of their ability. They’re playing smart baseball. They’re fighting. They’re special. They’re showing that to the Nationals, and they may soon show it to the rest of baseball.
Game Notes: Mets pitching has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in six of the seven games they have played. The one time they did not record 10 strikeouts was in their sole loss of the season.
This might have been the Nationals home opener, but this game certainly had the feel of an Opening Day to the season. You had a great pitching matchup with Jacob deGrom and Stephen Strasburg. More than that, as a fan, there was a great sense of anticipation for the matchup. Not just because of the pitching matchup. Not just because of the eagerness to see how the Mets matchup against the Nationals.
No, the biggest headline of this day was Michael Conforto making his 2018 debut.
Given the poor run of luck with significant injuries and the ensuing recoveries, you would expect Mets fans to have trepidation. David Wright and Matt Harvey are Exhibit A and Exhibit B for that. And yet, for some reason, the Mets fans seemed to have nothing but excitement to see their future superstar return to the Mets ahead of schedule.
Mickey Callaway put him in the lineup as the leadoff hitter and as the center fielder.
It wasn’t the greatest of starts for Conforto, who said he wanted to start today because he wanted Strasburg. He struck out in his first at-bat against Strasburg on three pitches. In the bottom of the first, Adam Eaton hit the first pitch over his head for a lead off double. With Anthony Rendon following with a single on a ball Jay Bruce would bobble, it was quickly 1-o Nationals.
Things would get better for Conforto and deGrom.
Bruce would atone for his error by nearly hitting one out against Strasburg. Two quick outs later followed by a Kevin Plawecki walk, the Mets had runners at the corners with surprise starter Jose Reyes at the plate. The Mets didn’t need Reyes to deliver here because Strasburg would balk trying to pick off Plawecki leading to Bruce scoring.
Eaton and Rendon would strike back in the third to give the Nationals the lead again. Eaton walked, and he would score on a Rendon double. From that point forward, it was all Mets.
Yoenis Cespedes lead off the fourth with a game tying home run. As if it wasn’t exciting enough to see Cespedes tying up the game, the Mets would rally in the fifth.
Plawecki led things off with a leadoff single, and he moved to second on a Reyes ground out. After a deGrom strikeout, that meant it was up to Conforto to try to break the tie. Up until this point in the game, he struck out on three pitches, and he hit into a double play. Things did not look great in this at-bat as Strasburg quickly went up 1-2 on him. Then, Conforto showed us just how healthy he is:
This Conforto kids pretty good. pic.twitter.com/wqbhd5CJwK
— John Flanigan (@jflan816) April 5, 2018
His opposite field home run showed us not just the return of his all field power, but also his great approach at the plate. In our “Yes, Virginia” moment, we now knew Conforto was alright.
Now, with a 4-2 lead, this put the game in deGrom’s hands. With his entering the game with an all-time best 1.98 ERA in day games and his being 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA and 0.983 WHIP in Nationals Park, it looked like it would be smooth sailing for the Mets.
However, this is the Mets and nothing is ever easy. The Nationals quickly loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. This wasn’t helped by deGrom uncharacteristically issuing back-to-back walks to Rendon and Bryce Harper. With deGrom being the ace that he is, he bore down.
First, he got Ryan Zimmerman to hit a shallow fly to right. Howie Kendrick hit a laser right at Reyes. Finally, deGrom struck out Trea Turner on three straight pitches, the last one looking.
It’s still early in the season, and there are 155 games left to be played, but this may prove to be a seminal moment of the 2018 season because after that we didn’t see the Nationals who tortured the Mets in 2014 and 2016. No, this started to feel like the 2015 season with the Nationals falling apart when pushed by the Mets.
The ungluing happened in the seventh inning.
Turner was ejected for arguing with the home plate umpire, and Brandon Kintzler just didn’t have it.
After the Reyes pop out, Brandon Nimmo pinch hit for deGrom, and he nearly hit one out. Conforto walked. After a borderline strike was called to strike out Asdrubal Cabrera, Cespedes and Bruce would get the benefit of the doubt on close pitches. Both batters would have 3-2 counts. Cespedes walked, and Bruce hit a grand slam giving the Mets an 8-2 lead.
That’s how you put a game on ice.#PapaSlam pic.twitter.com/ITAuyXZXf3
— MLB (@MLB) April 5, 2018
Jerry Blevins and Robert Gsellman would combine to pitch a perfect seventh. Hansel Robles navigated through a one out Rendon double while striking out the side. One his strikeout victims was Harper who is now 1-4 with three strikeouts off Robles. Seth Lugo would bring it home to preserve the 8-2 win.
Overall, the Mets got a big home run from Cespedes. They had an injured player come back and provide a huge home run. One of the Mets aces outpitched one of the Nationals aces. The Nationals had a key player suffer an injury and another one lose their cool. The Nationals bullpen melted down while the Mets bullpen was much better than expected.
If I didn’t know any better, I would swear this was August 2015.
Game Notes: deGrom became the first Met this season to have a quality start. His final line was 6.0 inning, four hits, two runs, one earned, three walks, and five strikeouts. After the sixth inning, Eaton left the game with an injury. He was off to a hot start after tearing his ACL.
These are the types of games that have traditionally tripped up the Mets. Day games. Get away games. Games with a rain delay. All of those things combined have always seemed to get in the Mets way. Harkening back to 2015, these were all present in the fateful loss against the San Diego Padres which nearly derailed the Mets season. Those conditions were present today.
With rain waiting, the game had a delayed start until 2:45. Initially, all seemed well for the Mets.
Yoenis Cespedes hit a monster two run homer off Aaron Nola to give the Mets an early 2-0 lead. Noah Syndergaard would start the game striking out five Phillies over the first two innings. Then, all of a sudden, everything would come off the rails in a 36 pitch third inning for Syndergaard.
The odd thing for Syndergaard was even though he was in trouble he was so close to getting out of it. There were runners on first and second with one out after a Carlos Santana double. After a Nick Williams RBI groundout, Syndergaard was well in position to get out of a tough inning with the Mets still having a 2-1 lead.
Surprisingly, Syndergaard, who typically has excellent control, immediately went 3-0 against Rhys Hoskins. He battled back into the count in what was an eight pitch at-bat where he then couldn’t put Hoskins away. On the eighth pitch, he walked Hoskins. That walk proved important.
With Aaron Altherr down 1-2 in the count, Hoskins broke too early for second, and it looked like he was picked off. The ball went to second with Asdrubal Cabrera covering, and he walked back Hoskins while keeping an eye on Santana. After Cabrera flipped it to Adrian Gonzalez, Hoskins ran out of the baseline (not called), and Santana beat Gonzalez’s throw home.
The game was tied at 2-2. At that point, Syndergaard wasn’t going to be able to make it through five innings, and the Mets offense had just one hit after the Cespedes homer. This made this the type of game you’d expect the Mets of very recent vintage to blow.
However, Robert Gsellman came out of the bullpen and gave the Mets a lift. He was nearly as impressive as Seth Lugo was yesterday throwing two hitless innings while striking out three. Like Lugo, Gsellman gave the Mets a shot in the arm and a real chance to win.
That chance came in the sixth when Nola, who was infamously lifted by Gabe Kapler on Opening Day after 5.2 innings, walked Cabrera to start the sixth. After a Gonzalez lineout, Andrew Knapp error, and a Kevin Plawecki ground out, Wilmer Flores pinch hit for Gsellman and drew a walk. That’s where Amed Rosario, who has hit ninth in every game he has started on the young season, was in prime position to deliver the big hit.
Rosario did a nice job going the other way with the pitch, and he was able to line the ball over Williams, who was playing aggressively in in right field. The end result was a two run triple giving the Mets a 4-2 lead.
The Mets bullpen, who has had an incredibly strong start to the season, stepped up and shut the door.
Believe it or not, that started with Hansel Robles striking out the side in the seventh. AJ Ramos and Jeurys Familia would each pitch a scoreless inning a piece to preserve the Mets 4-2 win.
And yes, it is April, which is way too early to focus on these things, but the Mets are now traveling to Washington a half game up in the division and with Jacob deGrom on the mound.
Game Notes: This game was broadcast only on Facebook with former Phillie John Kruk and former Met Cliff Floyd doing the color commentary. With Michael Conforto being activated from the disabled list, Phillip Evans was optioned down to Triple-A. He was 0-3 with a strikeout and a GIDP.
If you break it down, the Mets clearest path to the postseason is for the team to win at least 60% of Noah Syndergaard‘s and Jacob deGrom‘s starts. These are the Mets c0-aces, and they are the surest bet each time the Mets go through their rotation. Assuming they make 30 starts a piece, and the rest of the rotation pitches at least .500, the Mets will win at least 87 games, which should be good enough for one of the two Wild Card spots.
While wins are not pitcher dependent, there is usually a correlation between a pitcher pitching very well and his team having a chance to win the game. More often than not, if a pitcher is going to dominate the opposing offense, you are going to see your team win games. Overall, while you may not see Syndergaard or deGrom walk off the mound with the “W,” you may see the team have one once the game is over, and that’s what matters for this discussion.
We have seen both starters accomplish the feat. Back in 2015, the Mets were 20-1o (67%) in games started by deGrom. In 2016, the Mets were 19-12 (61%) in games started by Syndergaard. This isn’t to say it will happen. Rather, it suggests it is possible, and it looked all the more possible in their respective starts.
Still, for the formula to work, the rest of the rotation has to pull together to give the Mets at least a combined .500 record. With the injuries and struggles the past few seasons, that is far from a certainty.
Steven Matz‘s first start had to give you some reason for concern. Yes, he was squeezed by CB Bucknor, but the home plate umpire was not the reason why Matz was leaving pitches up in the hitting zone. Bucknor was just reason why Matz walked three and needed 89 pitches to get through just four innings.
Normally, you say Matz can only go up from here, but that would ignore how the Mets pitching performed in 2016 and 2017.
Where Matz failed, the Mets now need Matt Harvey to step up. Perhaps more than anyone Harvey has symbolized the Mets rise and fall and hopefully their rise again. There was hope with the Mets when Harvey returned in 2015. His ineffectiveness and further injury was a part of the 2017 despair.
Now, Harvey has a manager in Mickey Callaway and pitching coach in Dave Eiland, who believe in his talent. Neither wanted to see Harvery traded, and they gave him one of the top four spots in the starting rotation. Purportedly, they found and fixed the mechanical issue Dan Warthen has been talking about for years and had not been able to fix.
Is Harvey really fixed? We don’t know, and until Harvey puts together a significant number of good starts together, there will be doubters. Understandably, there may be doubters long after that.
What we do know is the Mets need to piece together wins in the games Syndergaard and deGrom do not pitch. Yesterday, Matz didn’t step up to prove he’s the next guy. Jason Vargas won’t pitch for a while, and there are questions after his second half last year. Seth Lugo won the job out of Spring Training, but there are issues about his long term viability in the rotation with his inability to go three times through the order.
That leaves Harvey, and that is why in many ways, the 2018 season truly begins today.
After how great Opening Day was for the Mets, you’d think the only change that would be made was starting Jacob deGrom. It would’ve been justified with the Cardinals starting another right-handed pitcher in Michael Wacha. That’s not what happened.
In Game 2 of the Mickey Callaway Era, we’re learning this is not a manager who is one for maintaining the status quo. Rather, this is not someone afraid to upset the Mets Home Run Apple card. He’s going to make an informed decision, and he is going to run with it even if it is unpopular.
And because of that, before first pitch today, he was quite unpopular.
Brandon Nimmo was benched in favor of Juan Lagares even with Nimmo reaching in four of his five plate appearances.
Asdrubal Cabrera, the only Mets Opening Day starter to not get a hit was moved from cleanup to leadoff.
Kevin Plawecki, who also reached base four times and hit a double, was benched for Travis d’Arnaud.
Callaway had a sound basis for his decisions. Wacha has reverse splits, and these players hit left-handed pitchers better. deGrom has a high fly ball rate, and Lagares is the best center fielder in baseball. And yet, despite all that, Callaway opened himself up for criticism.
Those critics were silenced immediately as Cabrera led off the bottom of the first with a double. He would eventually score on a Todd Frazier two RBI double.
.@FlavaFraz21 is the cleanup hitter for a reason. pic.twitter.com/qfZ0eCTkA8
— New York Mets (@Mets) March 31, 2018
On the day, Cabrera was 3-5 with a run, the aforementioned double, and an RBI. With that performance, he more than justified his manager’s decision.
Lagares and d’Arnaud would as well.
In the fourth, d’Arnaud would hit the first homer by a Mets player this year. Overall, he was 1-3 with a run, walk, homer, and an RBI.
Yoenis Cespedes would hit the second of the season with a fifth inning blast.
Lagares would also shut everyone up going 2-4 with a run.
Even with deGrom struggling to find it, he still allowed one run on four hits while allowing just one walk and striking out seven over 5.2 innings
The end result was the Mets dominating the Cardinals again. For the second time in as many days; the Mets chased the opposing starter, and they tacked on runs against the opposing bullpen.
For a second straight game, the Mets bullpen looked good.
Robert Gsellman came on with two outs in the sixth and struck out Jose Martinez. After he got into some trouble in the seventh, Anthony Swarzak bailed him out.
Swarzak was the only issue on the day and not just because Matt Carpenter homered off of him to pull the Cardinals within 5-2. The real issue was Swarzak left the game with a strained oblique.
This led to Callaway, a former American League pitching coach, having to make a double switch. Yes, it may be overblown, but Willie Randolph did have an issue with it early in his career.
When Callaway made the switch, it was Jeurys Familia coming in for the four out save. It was a throwback to how he was used in 2015. Fortunately, Familia looks as great as he did then.
With that power sinker back in the high 90s, Familia is unhittable. He was unhittable striking out two and recording the save.
So again, Callaway pushed all the right buttons, and the Mets won another game. In the future, these decisions may not work out as well as it has in the first two games, overall, with Callaway making informed decisions like this, they will work out more times than not.
If that happens, Mets fans will give him the benefit of the doubt because the Mets will be winning games and heading to the postseason.
Game Notes: Callaway joins former Mets manager Joe Frazier to begin his managerial career by winning the first two games of a season. No Mets manager has won three straight games to begin their career.
Frazier’s first inning RBI double was the first of his career.