Mets won’t have the usual benefit of a second half to surge

With a shorter season on the horizon for the New York Mets in 2020, the club will not have the luxury of waiting until the second half to make their run.

In recent seasons, the New York Mets have had a knack for starting the year strong, faltering in June, and then picking things up at an amazing pace in the second half of the season.

Even back in 2015 when they made it to the World Series it was only possible thanks to a second-half surge.

In 2020, they won’t have the same luxury.

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It’s still unknown when the season will begin. Whenever it does, the second half of the year will include far fewer games. Granted, the Mets would, at worst, be fewer behind in the standings.

The past two seasons have followed a similar script for this ball club. They played well for the first two months only for a horrific June to come around and flush the year to the base of the toilet. Both times, the team showed a lot more life after the All-Star Break.

This was especially true in 2019 when the Mets looked completely different in late July and early August. They couldn’t lose.

After many counted them out, they gave us the Michael Corleone treatment and pulled us back in.

The 2020 MLB season still has plenty of questions left to answer. From the start date to the midway point to the number of games played—we still don’t have a clue.

One certainty is that this team won’t be able to slump for a whole month. Games are going to matter a whole lot more in 2020 with an expected shorter schedule on the horizon.

Fortunately, the team looks as well-equipped as any squad in baseball to handle it. Even before Noah Syndergaard’s season-ending Tommy John Surgery, they had some of the best starting pitching depth in the game. If rosters are further expanded, we could see them take advantage of the many fringe-MLB players they signed in the offseason.

The Mets aren’t a perfect team nor should we expect them to thrive in whatever circumstances they have in front of them for the coming year.

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Every team will be challenged to win on the fly. For the Mets, it’s about putting the foot on the gas pedal and not releasing it until the end of the parade in Flushing.