Time Is Now For The Mets To Show Us Something
Subway Series could act as a real momentum starter for this struggling team...
They say in life that timing is everything.
That can certainly be applied to the New York Mets who have a chance this week to make a real statement. We need to see some tangible and hard evidence of signs of life, and the next few days are the perfect time to give us what we want.
Tuesday marks the start of the first Subway Series of the 2023 season, and it is fair to say that this isn’t the meeting of the heavyweights between the Mets and the Yankees that we all expected.
Actually, that’s probably putting it very lightly.
In the average but doing okay all things considered corner, the Yankees have lost six of their last 10, including a home series loss to division rivals the Boston Red Sox over the weekend. However, the Bronx Bombers are still nine games over .500 and they currently own the second AL Wild Card Spot.
And, in the can this get any worse, what the f is happening corner, your New York Mets are still one big hot mess in a dumpster fire of a season that doesn’t seem to be offering any promises of hope anytime soon.
This so-called contender have lost eight of nine, including two out of three to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the weekend, they have lost eight of their last nine and they currently sit four games under .500.
Perhaps more damming at this point is the fact that the Mets are 9 games back in the National League East. We haven’t even reached the All-Star Break, yet it seems that hopes of winning a pennant have already been snatched away, set alight and the remains scattered where they can never be found again.
It really has been that bad of a year so far for the Mets.
Oh, and before we carry on, allow me a minute to go off on a mini tangent. The team currently sitting atop the NL East - the Atlanta Braves - are a damn good, fundamentally, well-run baseball team and the Mets would be wise to take a minute to learn a thing or two from their rivals. I mean, that Braves team is flooded with high-end talent, talent by the way that is all locked down on long-term, team-friendly contract that allows the front office the flexibility to go out and make moves to bolster an already loaded roster. Atlanta boasts a proven track record over a large sample size, and this year has done a great job of hammering home that the Mets appear to be a million miles away from that same kind of sustained excellence year in, year out. The Braves have been carefully constructed to contend every single year, whereas the Mets are perhaps the finest example of a boom or bust team as you can find.
Anyway, back to the essence of this article. As hot garbage as the Mets have been, they could begin to build some real momentum this week. After all, every year is littered with turning points and defining moments that can make or break a season.
Think of the Subway Series as a tool in which to spark the New York Mets into life.
Hear me out. By beating the Yankees on both Tuesday and Wednesday at Citi Field, and then beating up on the 27-40 St. Louis Cardinals to finish off this five-game homestand, the Mets could fill the entire organization and their fanbase with the belief that all is not lost this year.
By beating their crosstown rivals without their star slugger in Pete Alonso (bone bruise and sprain of his left wrist), the Mets would show that they are made of tougher stuff than they’ve previously shown up until this point. It would prove that this team as it is currently constituted does have some teeth, does have some balls, and does have the grit and character you need to survive the war of attrition that is a 162-game regular season schedule.
Wins on Tuesday and Wednesday would almost act as a real page-turner for the Mets, a springboard upon which this team could save their season and prove that they are not just simply a mediocre .500 team.
As the great Yogi Berra once said, it is getting late early for the Mets and if they keep on playing stinking bad, inconsistent baseball the way they have over the first 60 or so games of the year, then they can kiss goodbye to the playoffs and certain individuals would no doubt say farewell to their jobs.
But we’re not at that point yet and now is almost the perfect time to play the Yankees. They are still without superstar slugger Aaron Judge - who is on the IL with a contusion and a sprained ligament in his right big toe - and the top of their lineup is hitting just .109 (11-for-101) with five extra-base hits and a .448 OPS since Judge has been out.
Sure, the Mets lineup has played like hot trash through the opening few months of the 2023 season and nothing they’ve done up to this point elicits any hope that they can cause any damage against Gerrit Cole (7-1, 2.84 ERA) on Wednesday, or even when facing Luis Severino (0-1, 5.75 ERA) on Tuesday, who has endured a rough last two starts.
Going into Tuesday night, the Mets have a homer differential of 91-79. That factors in Pete Alonso’s MLB-leading 22 home runs. And, to perhaps really hammer home the point as to how ineffective this offense has been, Alonso has still hit 27.8 percent of his team’s homers despite missing the past four games with injury.
Daniel Vogelbach has done his best Harry Houdini act by making his bat completely disappear from the DH spot, while Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil have combined for an ugly slash line of .248/.319/.372 with a .691 OPS this year. Yeah, that’s not what you want.
Brett Baty has cooled off somewhat after a strong start following his promotion to the bigs, Mark Vientos has been criminally underused and, in-fact, the only player really holding their own weight at the moment is phenom catcher Francisco Álvarez, who is currently hitting .243/.293/.543/.836 with four homers and six RBIs in his last five games.
Thank all that is holy for Álvarez. Lord knows where this team might be if it were not for the rookie’s infusion of pure power.
Heck, you can’t even hang your hat on two future Hall of Famers being on the mound for the Mets at the moment. Max Scherzer, who will get the start on Tuesday, and Justin Verlander, who will go on Wednesday, are the two highest paid starters in all of baseball (both aces have a $43,333,333 salary in 2023) yet both have failed to live up to their high billing. The duo, who were supposed to form a lethal two-headed monster at the top of the rotation, have combined for just 17 starts, a 4.19 ERA and 92 1/3 innings. Oh, and if you want further evidence that nothing has gone right for the Mets or their big-hitters this year, Scherzer (5-2, 3.71 ERA) was roughed up for five runs on 11 hits in his last start against the Braves, while Verlander (2-3, 4.85 ERA) has given up 19 runs - 18 earned - in 27 innings over his last five outings for an ugly ERA of 6.00. Not great, Bob, not great.
But, with all that being said, that’s Baseball, Suzyn. As painfully bad as this team has been, tomorrow is a new day and a couple of wins can spark a hot streak. Just look at the Oakland A’s at the minute.
So, we can look at Tuesday and Wednesday as the ultimate reset button for the Mets. As an opportunity for a power-starved offense to step up in Alonso’s absence, for two struggling aces to find their groove and absolutely dominate a lineup that won’t have Aaron Judge in it, and for this team as a collective unit to prove they are still up for the fight ahead.
These New York Mets need to show us something. And the Subway Series would be the ideal time to do just that.
