New York Mets have the potential to be an exciting team in 2019

The 2018 season ended on such a high for the New York Mets, it’s only reasonable to believe the 2019 season can bring a lot more excitement.

Before the year began, there was excitement for the 2018 New York Mets. Another year of baseball always means the opportunity for success.

However, not long after the 11-1 start was flushed away, a lot of the excitement went down the toilet with it. Those naysayers who didn’t agree with the offseason moves could proudly pump out their chests. They were right and the optimists were wrong. Oh, so very wrong.

For a good part of 2018, the Mets were not an exciting squad. The lineup often included underperforming veterans or youngsters not living up to expectations. It wasn’t until the second half when they finally began to put some flavor back into the performance.

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Rock bottom for the Mets came when they lost 25-4 against the Washington Nationals on July 31. As bad as it was, perhaps this embarrassed them enough into performing far better down the stretch. In August and September, the team looked like one of the better ones in baseball.

Guys like Michael Conforto and Amed Rosario picked up the offense. The overdue promotion for Jeff McNeil also helped spark some life into the team.

Starting pitchers Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler continued to do what they do best: pitch amazingly. Each put up historic statistics in the second half of 2018, setting up for what could become a very exciting 2019.

Should Mets fans get their hopes high? Sure, why not? There’s nowhere to go but up.

The 2019 Mets have the potential to become a very exciting team. A core lineup featuring Conforto, McNeil, and Rosario each day offers hope. Seeing Brandon Nimmo continue to blossom will also infuse some energy into the ball club.

It doesn’t end with those four players. When Peter Alonso finally gets his shot, we have long home runs from him to anticipate. In the meantime, we’ll all have to hope Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier finishing 2018 strong was a sign of things to come.

The Mets are far from a serious contender. The bullpen is a mess and there’s a lack of depth beyond the starting eight. Some smart moves in the offseason could make up for this and create a much stronger team overall.

I’m sure fans hear this every year and they’re probably sick of it when the Mets routinely disappoint. There are few guarantees in possible and even less when it comes to the wins and loss totals to expect.

With the starting rotation they have, the young core in place, and a few more names sure to arrive in the offseason, excitement for next year to begin is there. At the very least, we get that.

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Until the pillars of 2019 begin to collapse, I’ll do my best to stay positive. I recommend, for your sanity, you do the same.