NY Mets: 3 overreactions from the first month of the season

What a ride the first month of baseball has been. The New York Mets have faced every reason for a stoppage this season, from COVID-19 outbreaks to snowed-out games. While most teams in the MLB have played around 24 or 25 games, the Mets have played just 19, sitting at 9-10. The shortened amount of games doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty to take away from April though.

The Amazin’s have not been the team we hoped they’d be. It feels like almost every batter is in a slump, the fielding is atrocious, and they just keep losing games they put themselves in a position to win.

The Mets have had a very, very rocky start to their season, and it signals a lot about what is to come later in the year for the team from Queens.

1) The Mets are the worst fielding team in the MLB

If you saw any second of the Mets’ series against the Cubs, you will know exactly how bad the Mets defense is. In three games, the Mets recorded six errors, including four in an embarrassing 16-4 blowout loss on April 21st. The Mets were swept by the Cubs, and their fielding bares all the fault.

Three of those errors came from J.D. Davis, who is fielding like he’s never played third base in his life. Outside of his horrendous play, the infield has been… fine. James McCann has a cannon of an arm, Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor continue to be strong fielders, and Pete Alonso has made improvements as a first baseman.

The outfield is where the problem mostly lies. Dominic Smith is way out of his depths playing in the outfield. Brandon Nimmo is far better suited as a corner outfielder than he is playing center, and it shows. Michael Conforto, as always, is a below-average defender.

Put it all together, and you get a seven-run disaster against the .213 AVG hitting Chicago Cubs. Yikes.

If the team can’t take care of the ball on the defensive end, it’s not going to matter how strong their pitching is, or how hot their bats get.

Speaking of their bats…