Max Scherzer

20/20 Hindsight: Mets Can’t Handle Strange Brew

As usual, the New York Mets went to Milwaukee and forgot how to play baseball. It always happens:

1.  Since 2016, the Mets are 3-18 at whatever they’re calling Miller Park now. It’s at the point where the 1986 Mets in their prime couldn’t beat a Milwaukee t-ball team if it is played in that ballpark.

2.  The Mets lost a game 10-0 and the next one 9-0. That’s something the 1962 or 1993 Mets did. That should tell you how bad the series was.

3.  Keith Hernandez on a hot mic double guessing Buck Showalter for the insanely bad decision of sending Carlos Carrasco for another inning spoke for all Mets fans.

4.  Carrasco getting a pitch clock violation before he threw a pitch tells you how well he’s adapting to it.

5.  Showalter saving Adam Ottavino for the Brewers best left-handed hitters and burning David Robertson before that is simply incompetent managing. Robertson is great against left-handed batters, and Ottavino got hit hard by them last year.

6.  With all that is going on with the Mets are the present, Showalter cannot afford these unforced errors. More to the point, the whole premise for hiring him was he doesn’t make these egregious mistakes because he knows more than us all.

7.  If the issue for Pete Alonso was the bat handle, the Mets shouldn’t let him near anything other than the axe handle again.

8.  It was a real positive to see Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, and Jeff McNeil get three hit games. All three have been struggling in their own right, and they all need to break out of their early season slumps.

9.  Whatever is going on with Max Scherzer, he needs to figure it out. It’s not just the three homers on three pitches. He is becoming susceptible to the big inning, and the strikeout numbers are down. If he’s not an ace, the Mets are in trouble.

10. Luis Guillorme does what he does. He had a good game at the plate, and he was very good defensively. He also stepped up and pitched a scoreless inning when the Mets really needed to save the bullpen. He is much better than people want to give him credit.

11. Mark Canha had one big game in Miami. Aside from that, he has been terrible at the plate, and we know he hasn’t been great in the outfield. His days as a starter should be numbered.

12. Of all the issues we see with Eduardo Escobar, perhaps the most troubling is his sprint speed is way down. Perhaps, that is because he hasn’t had any reason to sprint this season.

13. The Mets did have a bright spot in the series with John Curtiss and Dennis Santana. Hopefully, they can be this reliable all season long.

14. Omar Narváez will be missed. He had an excellent start to the season, but now, they Mets are going to be without him for two months. This should be the start of the Francisco Álvarez Era.

15. If not for the Brett Baty thumb injury, you have to imagine he would have been here this weekend. The Mets already need him. You can say the same for Mark Vientos, but there’s no obvious spot on the roster for him right now.

16. After all we saw in Milwaukee, the Mets were smart to delay the season opener a day. The team was in shambles and needed a rest. It sucks for the fans, but we are more interested in wins than anything else . . . or at least we should be.

17. Flat out, the Mets did not look good in this series. They were completely outplayed by a mediocre Brewers squad. The hope is that it is just that ballpark.

18. After the home opening series against the Miami Marlins, things get more difficult for the Mets. If they continue playing this way, changes will need to come sooner rather than later.

19. This id David Peterson’s chance. He can’t blow it like he did in this series.

20. That final game of the series is what gives you hope. As we saw last year, when Lindor and Alonso are hitting, everything is fine. You’d like to believe after last season, Billy Eppler would’ve tried harder to ease Lindor’s and Alonso’s burden.

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Too Early To Say Mets In Trouble But –

Well, the New York Mets are being railroaded by the Milwaukee Brewers. They followed a 10-0 loss with a 9-0 loss. To some extent, this should come as no surprise as the Mets always falter in whatever the Brewers are calling that ballpark now.

Carlos Carrasco was annihilated in his first start of the season. While we cannot say that was expected, it may not have fully come as a surprise. At the moment, it is wait and see with him on whether he can handle the pitch clock.

The much bigger issue is Max Scherzer. He cruise in his Opening Day start until the Miami Marlins tagged him for three runs in the sixth. That was capped off by Garrett Cooper. Whatever, it was one bad inning, and he looked good otherwise.

That was the way his second start of the season against the Brewers seemed to be going. He struggled in the first allowing a two RBI double to Brian Anderson. It was 2-0 Brewers, but Scherzer seemed to settle in from there shutting down the Brewers offense over the next four innings.

Then, in the sixth, Scherzer imploded. On three straight pitches, we saw Rowdy Tellez, Anderson, and Garrett Mitchell. Again, on THREE STRAIGHT PITCHES.

It is difficult to understand what is going on with Scherzer. His velocity is down, but it’s not really down. For example, he averaged 94 MPH with his four seamer last year, and he is at 93.3 MPH this season. It’s the same with all of his pitches.

After the game, Scherzer doesn’t think it’s stuff, but rather, location. Buck Showalter seemed to think it was the same thing. Whatever the case, there is something not clicking with Scherzer, and the Mets desperately need him to figure it out.

Remember, the Mets plan on winning the World Series was having Scherzer and Justin Verlander atop their rotation. Well, Scherzer is allowing an unprecedented amount of homers for him, and Verlander is on the IL. The Mets can’t win if they can’t pitch like the future Hall of Famers they are.

That goes double when you consider the Mets offense. With them not scoring runs and the pitching staff acting like a windwill, this is literally the worst the Mets have ever looked in their history.

They haven’t scored a run in their past 20 innings. Keep in mind, both Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil had three hit games. Really, when you look at it, it is the same issue. There is no power in the lineup. In fact, the Mets have the lowest slugging in the majors to start the season. Only the Washington Nationals and Toronto Blue Jays have hit fewer homers.

Pete Alonso looks lost at the plate with the new rules. Francisco Lindor is fighting it like he did his first year with the Mets. Eduardo Escobar looks done. After that outburst in the last two games against the Marlins, Mark Canha‘s bat looks slow again. The problems are across the board.

You could say call up Brett Baty, but he just re-injured his thumb. Francisco Álvarez and Mark Vientos are hitting, but they have defensive question marks along with no real spot for them to play on this team.

Look, it is just two bad games. They could happen at any point in the season. In fact, if this happened in July during the Mets 101 win season last year, no one would’ve batted an eye. Chances are, this is a blip.

However, to some extent, this does at least look like the Mets could be in some trouble. The pitch clock seems to be impacting this team more than most. Again, this is probably a complete overreaction, and yet, in some ways, it feels like this isn’t

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Filet Marlins

The New York Mets played their opening series of the season, and they took 3/4 games. All-in-all, not a bad start to the season:

1.  The Mets defense was exceptional to start the season. Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor appear on their way to having Gold Glove caliber years, and Starling Marte might’ve made the most important play of all.

2.  Kodai Senga‘s ghost splitter was all; the more impressive in game action recording all eight strikeouts on the pitch. It’s also a good thing it really took him just one inning to fully acclimate.

3.  It took Lindor three games last season before he started hitting, and he would have a great year. Nothing to be concerned about his slow start to the season.

4.  Brandon Nimmo is back to walking a lot, which means his OBP should be through the roof this season.

5.  Justin Verlander and Jose Quintana are out, but it appears David Peterson and Tylor Megill are up to the task much like they were all of last season.

6.  Eduardo Escobar has really struggled to start the year. With the start Brett Baty is off to in Triple-A, we are going to hear the calls for him sooner rather than later.

7.  If Baty is not called up within the next week, the Mets are going to forfeit the chance to get an extra first round pick and international bonus pool money. This seems like a dubious decision to say the least.

8.  Mark Canha‘s and Tommy Pham‘s bat looked very slow to start the season, but they turned it on the last two games. At least with Sandy Alcantara and Jesus Luzardo, you still have to wonder if velocity will be an issue for Canha, but for now, he seems like he will be productive.

9.  The only Mets reliever to allow a run is John Curtiss, who was on the bubble to even make the team. For now, it seems like the Mets bullpen will be fine without Edwin Díaz.

10. Way too much was made by some people over Max Scherzer allowing three runs. He was completely dominant over the first five innings, and he had one bad inning. He will be fine and pitch like an ace again this season.

11. It seems like something that only happens to the Mets, but somehow poor defenders like Garrett Cooper and Jorge Soler looked like Keith Hernandez and Roberto Clemente in the field this past series.

12. Jeff McNeil hit a lot of balls hard right at someone. Not what you expected to see with the elimination of the shift.

13. The games did move much faster, but there is still going to be some issues to be ironed out. For example, McNeil getting assessed a strike because of Pete Alonso at first base. After the game, MLB admitted a strike should not have been assessed against McNeil.

14. Any Mets fans rejoicing in Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt struggling is an outright fool. First, they did nothing to the Mets. Second, it meant you enjoyed the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals offense going off. Nothing says I’m a Mets fan more than rooting for the Phillies and Cardinals.

15. We knew the bases being closer together meant not only more stolen bases but more opportunities to take an extra base. We didn’t know that meant Daniel Vogelbach going first to third and scoring on shallow sacrifice flies.

16. Jazz Chisholm Jr.was not good at all in center for the Miami Marlins. That is going to be an issue for that team all season.

17. Omar Narváez. has looked PHENOMENAL in all aspects of the game so far. If he is going to be this good, the Mets are a different level team than originally anticipated.

18. Dennis Santana might’ve been a find for the Mets.

19. Alonso was safe at first base.

20. This was a good start for the Mets. They took three out of four, and their best players haven’t quite gotten going just yet. Hopefully, this is a sign we are in for a special 2023.

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Mets Bullpen Starts Off Season Just Fine

Brandon Nimmo was the player of the game for the New York Mets. He knocked in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Later in the game, he hit a two RBI double which put the Mets up for good.

Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil both had a two hit game. Things were going so well for the Mets we even saw Daniel Vogelbach acting like a speed demon around the bases.

Max Scherzer was great for five, but he stumbled in the sixth giving up the three run lead. Still, he got the win because of the aforementioned Nimmo RBI double in the seventh.

There was also some terrific defense from Francisco Lindor. The hitting and defense was expected. The bullpen stepping up for Scherzer and the Mets was a pleasant surprise.

After Edwin Díaz went down for the season, how the Mets were going to finish games was very much in question. At least for the season opener, it was seamless.

Drew Smith was first up. After allowing a lead-off double to Jorge Soler. Smith didn’t allow another hit and would strike out two.

Brooks Raley made his Mets debut in the eighth. He’d pitch a 1-2-3 inning.

That led to David Robertson for the ninth. Robertson was signed to be the eighth inning set-up reliever, but with Díaz out for the year, he’s now the closer.

The good news is Robertson has been a very good closer in his career. More than that, he’s thrived in New York. In many ways, that makes him the perfect stopgap.

Well, he was perfect in his first save opportunity with the Mets. After striking out the first two, he got Soler to fly out to end the game.

The Mets won on Opening Day. That’s what they do. Sooner or later, we will find out if shutting down the opponent is what this bullpen does. At least for this game, the bullpen looked great, and if that’s the case, the Mets will be great.

GAME NOTES: Justin Verlander was put on the IL before the game. Bryce Montes de Oca underwent Tommy John surgery. Jacob deGrom made his first start with the Texas Rangers. He allowed more extra base hits against the Philadelphia Phillies than he had ever allowed in a game.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets World Series Journey Begins Now

After a disappointing loss in the Wild Card Series, the New York Mets remade their rotation and re-shaped their bench. Are they better? Well, we’re about to find out:

1.  The Mets are going to miss Jacob deGrom, Seth Lugo, and Dominic Smith. With Lugo and Smith, they are getting the opportunities they always wanted, and for deGrom, well, let’s hope he can be the AL Cy Young. Best of luck to all of them.

2.  The Mets having Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander lead their rotation is a fever dream. Last time the Mets had this much greatness atop their rotation was 2015 when deGrom and Matt Harvey pitched the Mets to a pennant.

3.  With the shift ban and other rule changes, Jeff McNeil may hit .400. If he does, you know he will be the NL MVP, so starting right now, we are accepting all passengers on the McNeil MVP Hype Train.

4.  Kodai Senga looks like the real deal, and his ghost sinker will likely be a bigger sensation than Daisuke Matsuzaka‘s gyroball or Hideo Nomo‘s wind-up and splitter. Look for him to be an All-Star and have a big year.

5.  The best news to come out of spring training was José Quintana‘s tumor being benign. Whenever he comes back, he comes back.

6.  It was not the way you wanted to see it happen, but David Peterson got the rotation spot he should have received. He should have a good year, and with the age in the Mets rotation, he may just make more starts than any other Mets pitcher.

7.  Obviously, the Mets are going to miss Edwin Díaz immensely. It appears he is gone for the season, but you never know, especially if the Mets go deep into October.

8.  One thing the Díaz injury highlighted was the importance of signing David Robertson. With him, the Mets have a closer in their bullpen who has thrived in New York. This was just a good signing.

9.  The other thing the Díaz injury highlights is the Mets could have done more to build the bullpen. Obviously, you understood the team not spending or pursuing free agents after the Carlos Correa deal fell through, but when it was clear that money wasn’t going to be spent, Michael Fulmer and Andrew Chafin were still free agents. Not pivoting to them was a mistake Billy Eppler cannot justify.

10. There is absolutely no justification for Brett Baty not being on the Opening Day roster. Put aside the fact he won the job in spring training (if there was a competition). Everyone says he’s better than Eduardo Escobar right now, and more to the point, the Mets gave him the job in August.

11. The Mets were right to designate Darin Ruf for assignment. His wrist was holding him back, and the team needed to find someone else for the job. Now, that job should have gone to Escobar or Mark Canha, but that is a fight for another day.

12. With the shift rules and pitch clock, there will be more emphasis on contact and defense. While we know these rules are perfect for McNeil, it is another reason why Luis Guillorme should be playing everyday.

13. Again, the Mets ideal lineup is with McNeil in left, Guillorme at second, and Baty at third. We may need to see that sooner rather than later because Canha finished the year miserably and was non-competitive in the postseason. It may just be he will be far more effective as a part-time or semi-regular player.

14. The Mets bench is flat out bad. Tommy Pham really is just another version of Ruf, and Tim Locastro may just be a worse version of Travis Jankowski. Hopefully, when the Mets finally call up Baty, it will move Escobar and/or Canha to the bench. At that point, this will be a deep and dangerous roster.

15. Francisco Lindor is a great player in his prime. We are very lucky he is a member of the New York Mets, and we can look forward to the day he wears a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque and sees his 12 retired.

16. Aaron Judge broke the rookie home run record in 2017. Two years later, Pete Alonso broke the record. Last year, Judge hit 62. Lets just say this year will be a stepping stone for Alonso’s epic 2024 season.

17. Omar Narváez and Tomás Nido are going to be such a good tandem behind that plate that it is unfortunately going to keep Francisco Álvarez in Triple-A most of the year. Of course, if there is an injury, and Álvarez goes on a tear, the Mets might just be forced to keep him in the majors.

18. The fans clamoring for Álvarez, Baty, Ronny Mauricio, and Mark Vientos is a sign of just how good each of those prospects are and just how bright the Mets future is. As good as 2023 will be, 2024 will be better when they take on bigger roles.

19. Brandon Nimmo is a Met for life poised to break many team records. It’s sad that he couldn’t be joined by Michael Conforto (who the Mets needed), but we should celebrate Nimmo’s path to being one of the true Mets greats.

20. During the regular season, the Mets may be the third best team in the division. The early schedule is tough. The bench is bad. The older roster will have some nicks. However, in the end, when it matters most, this is a postseason team who will be set up well to win the World Series. Repeat, the Mets will win the 2024 World Series.

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2023 MLB Predictions

With the 2023 Major League Baseball season getting underway, it is time to make some predictions for the season. Last year, well, at least the predictions for the NL side of the ledger looked a lot better than the AL side, which is exactly bragging.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

AL East – Toronto Blue Jays

Yes, the New York Yankees kept Aaron Judge, and Anthony Volpe will begin the year on the roster, but they already have Carlos Rodon, Luis Severino, and Frankie Montas on the IL. The Blue Jays are younger, healthier, and added some key pieces around their exciting young core. This is the year they finally break through and win the division.

AL Central – Minnesota Twins

The Chicago White Sox were disappointing last year and took a step backwards this offseason. The Guardians were a surprise, but all they did was add Josh Bell. The Twins kept Carlos Correa while doing well to add Christian Vázquez and Joey Gallo. All told, this division is bad, and the Twins are probably just less bad than the lot.

AL West – Houston Astros

Picking anyone else would be insane (don’t check my predictions for last year). The Seattle Mariners are on the cusp, and as we may be saying for the last time, the Los Angeles Angels have Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Still, the Astros are the strongest and best team in baseball.

AL Wild Card 1 – New York Yankees – Look, they still have Judge, Anthony Rizzo., and Giancarlo Stanton. How they keep everyone healthy is anyone’s guess, but there is enough talent there to be great when it is all there, which may not be for more than 50 games.

AL Wild Card 2 – Tampa Bay Rays – They’re the Rays. They’re the team where you throw them a million mismatched Lego pieces, and they build you the Taj Mahal. There’s also just the look in Randy Arozarena‘s eyes during the WBC.

AL Wild Card 3 – Los Angeles Angels – Yes, the Mariners are probably better right now. However, the Angels are absolutely hellbent on keeping Ohtani and will pull out all the stops this year to make it happen. We may also see Trout more motivated than ever, which is astonishing considering how great he is.

AL MVP & Cy Young – Shohei Ohtani – Maybe this is a complete overreaction to the WBC, but Ohtani going into a contract year is going to put on a show that may never be repeated in the history of baseball.

AL Rookie of the Year – Gunnar Henderson – He’s the top prospect in the game, and he impressed during his cup of coffee last season.

AL Manager of the Year – Phil Nevin – It’s a narrative award. If the Angels make the postseason when no one thought they would, he gets the award.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

NL East – Atlanta Braves

The Braves were the top team in the division last year, and they improved with Sean Murphy. The New York Mets rotation depth took a hit already, and their bench looks ugly. The Philadelphia Phillies are stronger than last year and are best poised to make a run at the Braves.

NL Central – St. Louis Cardinals

They have Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, and are very well run. The Milwaukee Brewers are in turmoil. Keep an eye on the Chicago Cubs who had a sneaky good offseason and could surprise.

NL West – San Diego Padres

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost too much. They not only lost Trea Turner, but they also lost his replacement in Gavin Lux. This is probably the thinnest their starting pitching has been. Meanwhile, the Padres just keep adding. At some point, they have to not have some implosion during the season. Keep an eye on the San Francisco Giants who had a smart under the radar Giants like offseason.

NL Wild Card 1 – Philadelphia Phillies – The reigning pennant winners are all the more formidable with Turner and Taijuan Walker. They will get a jolt when Bryce Harper returns.

NL Wild Card 2 – New York Mets – This team is still really good with Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Max Scherzer, and Justin Verlander. It’s more than enough to win, and they will likely have the best roster to get a team through the postseason.

NL Wild Card 3 – San Francisco Giants – They immensely improved their offense with Michael Conforto and Mitch Haniger. They know what they’re doing from a pitching standpoint better than anyone.

NL MVP – Jeff McNeil – With the shift ban, he could hit .400, and if he does that or makes a serious run, he will get the award.

NL Cy Young – Julio Urias – He has probably been the best pitcher in the NL over the past two years, and this could be the year he gets over the hump.

NL Rookie of the Year – Kodai Senga – It does not appear as if he has struggled with the new ball, and that ghost fork has looked lethal.

NL Manager of the Year – Rob Thompson – The Phillies are going to make a strong run at the division, and he will be partially rewarded for what he did when the took over the Phillies last season.

POSTSEASON

Wild Card Round

Angels over Twins
Yankees over Rays

Cardinals over Giants
Mets over Phillies

Divisional Round

Astros over Angels
Blue Jays over Yankees

Padres over Cardinals
Mets over Braves

League Championship Series

Astros over Blue Jays
MVP – Yordan Alvarez

Mets over Padres
MVP – Francisco Lindor

World Series

Mets over Astros
MVP – Justin Verlander

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Bold 2023 Mets Predictions

For the New York Mets 60th season, I made 60 bold predictions heading into the season. The concept is to really go for it instead of being meek and saying Francisco Lindor will play the most games at short, or Pete Alonso will lead the team in homers. It was to be daring. Some hit, and some did not. In any event, here are 61 for this year as this is the 61st season:

1.  The New York Mets will win the 2023 World Series.

2.  The Mets will be the third best team in the division during the regular season.

3.  David Peterson will have more starts this season than any other Mets starter.

4.  Kodai Senga will be an All-Star.

5.  Jeff McNeil will make a run at .400 and will finish with a batting average north of .370.

6.  By the middle of June, Brett Baty will be called up, and he will overtake the Mets third base job for the next decade.

7.  The Mets will have more blown saves by the All-Star Break than Edwin Díaz had all of last season.

8.  The Mets are going to find a way to get Alexis Díaz this season. When they get him, Steve Cohen will speak about just how important family is and how that was a motivating factor in getting Díaz.

9. Part of the Díaz deal will be Joey Votto going to the Mets. The lifelong Red will be excited because he is getting a chance to win, and the Reds will be excited because it clears a massive chunk of payroll. Votto will take over as the Mets DH.

10.  Ronny Mauricio is going to be moved this year as the big prospect to get a big piece or two at the trade deadline.

11. The Mets are not going to come to terms on an extension with Pete Alonso, but they will surprise us with one for Baty or Francisco Álvarez.

12. We will see Álvarez get called up multiple times, but he is not going to stick on the roster until September.

13. The Mets will not need a closer at the trade deadline, but they will need an outfielder. They will still get at least one reliever at the deadline.

14. Mark Canha will regress and lose his starting job forcing Jeff McNeil to left field.

15. Jacob deGrom will have a better season than Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. All three pitchers will finish in the top five in Cy Young voting.

16. The Mets will announce a date where they are going to retire Carlos Beltrán‘s number 15.

17. The pitch clock is going to be a hit with the fans, but we are going to see multiple issues early in the season where games are swung on its implementation leading to player and that fanbase’s frustration.

18. We are going to see Luis Guillorme make more starts on the infield than anyone not named Alonso or Francisco Lindor.

19. The Mets are going to have a tough first half with many wondering if the team was too old or if this is a reincarnation of the 1992 Worst Team Money Could Buy. The Mets will shut everyone up with a great second half.

20. The rule changes will rejuvenate Keith Hernandez, who will come to enjoy the modern game more than any particular fan.

21. Brandon Nimmo will be a first time All-Star. He will be joined there by Lindor, McNeil, Senga, and Verlander.

22. Pete Alonso returns to the Home Run Derby, and he wins it again.

23. Tommy Pham and Tim Locastro are not going to last the full season on the Mets roster as the team learns they need to radically overhaul their bench.

24. Eduardo Escobar loses his starting third base job, but he will still serve as an important semi-regular on the roster.

25. Lindor will be the only Mets player to win a Gold Glove this season. Guillorme and McNeil will be finalists.

26. Starling Marte will play fewer than 100 games, but he will be healthy for the postseason and will be one of the best Mets in the postseason.

27. Dylan Bundy will be added to the Major League roster at some point during the season, and he will stick in the bullpen at some point.

28. McNeil and Lindor will each finish in the top five in MVP voting with McNeil winning the award.

29. J.D. Davis will get out to a good start leading for Mets fans to further complain about the Darin Ruf trade, but Davis will cool off considerably thereafter with no one saying much of anything past May.

30. This will be Eric Chávez‘s last season as a coach with the Mets as he will be the hot candidate for managerial jobs in the offseason.

31. Meet Joey Meneses, who will be the newest Mets killer.

32. Scherzer is going to have a better season than Verlander.

33. Verlander will have zero issues adjusting to New York.

34. Lindor is going to play in every single Mets game this season.

35. The Mets will aggressively pursue David Bednar and Bryan Reynolds, but the stingy Pittsburgh Pirates owner will not make a deal with Steve Cohen on principle based on this spending the last offseason.

36. When he returns from the IL, Mets fans are going to fall in love with Bryce Montes de Oca, and we will see him get at least a down ballot Rookie of the Year vote.

37. Shohei Ohtani will not be traded this year no matter how hard the Mets try to get him. Part of the reason will be the Los Angeles Angels contending for the last Wild Card spot.

38. Noah Syndergaard will actually start against the Mets when the Los Angeles Dodgers visit Citi Field in April. He will get a loud ovation as he takes the mound.

39. Tylor Megill will make more starts for the Mets this season than Carlos Carrasco.

40. Alonso will appear in more games at DH than any other right-handed batter as Buck Showalter tries to keep him fresher than he did last season.

41. While there will be calls for a closer-by-committee approach, Showalter is going to go with David Robertson as the closer to begin the season, and he will carry the role at least through the All-Star Break.

42. Buck Showalter will not be the NL Manager of the Year, and he will not finish in the top five in voting.

43. There will be more of a time share at catcher between Omar Narváez and Tomás Nido than anyone will expect.

44. Jose Butto will be up-and-down a few times this season being designated at that prospect who comes up one week for a spot start and another week to hang out in the bullpen. He is going to struggle, and there will be more people calling him a non-prospect.

45. While it will be an exhausting story line, Verlander will win a World Series start, and he will be dominant.

46. Despite his World Baseball Classic success, no team will sign Matt Harvey this season with his pending suspension being part of the reason.

47. Brooks Raley will have a similar transition from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Mets that Aaron Loup once did.

48. Pride Night is scheduled for June 16. The Mets will force Raley to wear whatever gear is mandated that day by Major League Baseball.

49. Lindor is and will continue to be the best shortstop in baseball. Yes, that means he will have a better season than Trea Turner.

50. We will see Mark Vientos at some point this season but only for a limited time as the Mets are going to struggle to find spots for him even with Vientos having a monster year with Syracuse.

51. This will be the last season the 1962 Mets have the record for most losses in a season. The bottom feeders of baseball are just that bad this season.

52. Nimmo wins his first Silver Slugger this season.

53. The Mets will have a day honoring the New York Rangers after the Rangers win the Stanley Cup with Mets fan Adam Fox throwing out the first pitch.

54. While Adam Ottavino will have another good year, Drew Smith will be the Mets best set-up reliever this season.

55. Kevin Parada will play in Double-A this season, and we will start to hear some wonder if it is him or Álvarez as the Mets catcher of the future.

56. Nimmo is going to steal 20+ bases this season.

57. Escobar will continue his streak of 20+ home run seasons.

58. One development from the pitch clock is Citi Field will begin to have all of their concession stands handle pre-order and pick up as fans are not going to have as many delays and will not want to miss game action.

59. There will be some celebration at Citi Field this season for the 40th anniversary of the 1973 pennant winning team. It will likely be tied into Old Timers’ Day.

60. The Mets will have multiple events throughout the year giving rewards to Mets fans for wearing their caps out in public as a continued attempt to get them more attention than the Yankees.

61. This will be the first time New York holds a Stanley Cup and World Series title since 1928.

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Mets Should Be Fine Without Edwin Díaz

The biggest fear you could possibly have with the World Baseball Classic happened when Edwin Díaz suffered a potentially season ending injury celebrating Puerto Rico defeating the Dominican Republic to advance to the quarterfinals. No one, but no one wanted to see that happen.

Yes, you would like to think the injury was avoidable. Then again, spring injuries aren’t avoidable at all. Just go ask Brandon Nimmo and Bryce Montes de Oca, each of whom have suffered injuries this spring. We may see Nimmo on Opening Day, but Montes de Oca may take longer.

With Díaz, the question is how do you replace the irreplaceable. Last season, Díaz was finally the pitcher the Mets thought they were getting, and the Mets rewarded him for it by making him the highest paid reliever in the game. That’s what you do for the best closer in the game. You pay him and keep him.

Of course, this was a question the New York Yankees had back in 2012 when Mariano Rivera went down with an injury flagging down fly balls in Kansas City during batting practice. How were the Yankees going to possible replace Rivera.

The answer is you don’t. In reality, it is just the next man up. That man was Rafael Soriano. He was nowhere near as good as Rivera, and yet, he was still good enough to get the job done. In fact, he would finish in the top 20 in MVP voting.

That season, the Yankees won 95 games. That was not only enough to win the AL East, but it was also the best record in all of the American League. The Yankees would go to the ALCS before getting swept by a Detroit Tigers team with a dominant starting pitching staff led by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

That’s just it. The dominant starting pitching is always more important than the closer. Also, it helps having another reliever with closing experience who can step in and do the job. Fortunately, the Mets have that with David Robertson. The Mets also have other talented relievers like Drew Smith who could potentially step in to do the job.

Overall, closing Díaz is horrible. The Mets can’t replace him much like the Yankees couldn’t replace Rivera, the best to ever do it. That said, as we saw with the Yankees, you can lose your great closer and still be great. You just need the rest of the roster to do the things you expected them to do to get leads to the closer. From there, the Mets need 1-2 more players to step up.

In the end, the Mets were dealt a significant blow, but in the end, they should be fine. And if they aren’t, they have the assets to go get someone at the trade deadline or sooner.

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Rangers Following Steve Cohen’s Footprints With Tarasenko, Kane

Steve Cohen has set out to stretch the financial boundaries of Major League by doing all he can do to help the New York Mets win. In successive offseasons, he has signed a future Hall of Fame pitcher still near the top of his game.

The Mets are a far cry from the Wilpon era. Instead of trying to sell replacing Zack Wheeler with Marcus Stroman (despite both pitchers being in the same rotation), there is a healthy and fun debate whether Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander should be the Mets Opening Day starter.

This win-now attitude has infected the Mets and their fanbase. It is also something we are seeing with the New York Rangers.

Last year at the trading deadline, Chris Drury made a series of inspired moves. They were able to add Justin Braun, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte, and Frank Vatrano. The end result was a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. After going up 2-0 in the series, they were within a blown lead of going to the Finals.

Drury would again not be deterred. He went out and got Motte back, who was a popular addition last season most Rangers fans were hoping would return. Then, he made a master stroke to surprisingly add Vladimir Tarasenko. While exciting, there was some mild disappointment because it meant the Rangers were out on Patrick Kane.

We were wrong, and for the most part, we have Drury and Kane to thank.

Kane had a no-trade clause with the Chicago Blackhawks. That meant Kane could go anywhere he wanted, and that anywhere was Madison Square Garden. The trick was finding a way to make it work under the salary cap.

Whereas Cohen has the option to absorb every nonsense financial penalty derived to punish trying to win, the Rangers needed to navigate through a hard cap. That involved some real creativity.

Picks had to be moved to the Phoenix Coyotes for them to absorb salary. Vitaly Kratsov was essentially given away to clear cap room. Jake Leschyshyn was waived. This was all done in the name of getting Kane and making the Rangers legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

Like the Mets with Scherzer and Verlander, the Rangers have Kane and Tarasenko. They pushed the limits of spending in their sport, and they put themselves in a position to win the Stanley Cup. With any luck, there will be two parades down the Canyon of Heroes this year.

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Max Scherzer Should Be Opening Day Starter

New York Mets manager Buck Showalter sounded non-committal over who his 2023 Opening Day starter would be. You can certainly understand why Showalter was not ready to make a decision just yet.

First and foremost, last season, it seemed obvious Jacob deGrom was going to be the Opening Day starter. That was until he was injured. Then, it was going to be Max Scherzer.

Well, Scherzer got hurt too. This all led to the very improbable choice of Tylor Megill. Fortunately for the Mets, Megill was up for the task, and we saw he was really up for the task to be a top of the rotation starter as he was the first pitcher in the Mets co-no.

Things are different in 2023. deGrom signed with the Texas Rangers, and he was replaced in the rotation by Justin Verlander. Suddenly, Scherzer and Verlander were again atop the rotation like they were with the Detroit Tigers, a team who won an American League pennant.

Both Scherzer and Verlander would lay claim to the Opening Day starter with just about any team. However, with the Mets, it is only going to be one of them who gets the nod. While Showalter may not want to commit, his choice should be Scherzer.

Scherzer came to the Mets last season making him the first real big free agent signed by the team. While you could argue it was the Francisco Lindor trade and extension, it was Scherzer who really the biggest sign things have changed.

This was when Steve Cohen first got to show the baseball world just how much more money he has to spend, and in many ways, the lengths he would go to sign players to take this Mets team to a new level. Interestingly enough, Scherzer’s contract served as a model for Verlander’s, and as it turns out, it was one of the reasons Verlander wanted to come to the Mets after the Houston Astros were alright with him departing in free agency.

Scherzer changed what the Mets were and could be. Cohen needed that first marquee free agent, and Scherzer was it. For that alone, he deserves the Opening Day nod.

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