Mets: 3 reasons why the Amazins should be the NL East favorites

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Michael Conforto #30 and Brandon Nimmo #9 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on April 25, 2021 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Nationals 4-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Michael Conforto #30 and Brandon Nimmo #9 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on April 25, 2021 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Nationals 4-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Pete Alonso #20 and Edwin Diaz #39 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on April 25, 2021 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Nationals 4-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 25: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Pete Alonso #20 and Edwin Diaz #39 of the New York Mets celebrate after defeating the Washington Nationals at Citi Field on April 25, 2021 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Nationals 4-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

It’s a great time to be a New York Mets fan lately with the team seemingly rattling off multiple wins in a row and playing the brand of baseball that many of us had come to expect after watching the front office retool the Major League roster. With all of the surrounding offseason hype around the Mets expectations have followed and we are witnessing what hopefully could be a memorable run to October this summer.

Strong overall pitching and stellar defense have contributed to the Mets’ recent run, and while the bats seem to slowly be heating up along with the weather, it is fair to say the best is still yet to come Mets fans. It’s not unreasonable to expect the Mets to be the National League East favorites at this point in the season for a multitude of reasons, especially with the way things have been clicking despite the team, not at full strength.

With the New York Mets’ recent play, there is plenty of surrounding optimism on why they should be considered the favorites to win the National League East.

With much of the teams in the National League East playing below expectations, the Mets have a legitimate opportunity to make a run and separate themselves from the pack over the next several weeks if this recent play continues as summer approaches. But the scary part of all of this recent praise is we still most likely haven’t seen what this team is truly capable of until it reaches full strength by hopefully some point in June.

While I can think of a host of reasons as to why the Mets should be considered the favorites to take the National League East crown this season, I’ll give you three of my favorite reasons why.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 12: Taijuan Walker #99 of the New York Mets in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field on May 12, 2021 in New York City. New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-1. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 12: Taijuan Walker #99 of the New York Mets in action against the Baltimore Orioles at Citi Field on May 12, 2021 in New York City. New York Mets defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-1. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

1) The Mets Starting Rotation & Bullpen

Many of us believed the Mets would have a much-improved starting rotation heading into this season after last season’s tumultuous display behind Jacob deGrom and David Peterson. But nobody could have predicted just how good the pitching staff has held up thus far heading into the middle of May. Jacob deGrom despite his recent injury has looked like he has completely revamped his game which seems impossible to do, and Marcus Stroman has reminded fans just exactly how good he is despite a lost 2020 campaign due to injury and an opt-out due to Covid-19 concerns.

While David Peterson has taken his bumps here and there, when he has been on his A-game, he has displayed the type of promise many fans had hoped for after his breakout campaign last season. We also can not forget to mention how filthy Taijuan Walker has looked through his first-month and-a-half in a Mets jersey and it’s still hard to believe he sat around on the free-agent market as long as he did before being scooped up at the end of February.

The real burning question that surrounded the organization heading into the opening day was the state of the bullpen and they have absolutely delivered early on in the season, and are a large reason why the Mets are in the position they are in today. Outside of Edwin Diaz and Trevor May, many fans, myself included, were not sure how well the bullpen would hold up especially with Seth Lugo on the shelf until at least the end of May.

Every arm in the bullpen has answered those questions and then some, with an honorable mention to Jeurys Familia having a rebound of a season and looking like one of the best relievers in baseball, as well as Miguel Castro stepping up in big situations and delivering when needed. The Mets are second in baseball in both team ERA as well as WHIP, and they have also allowed the fewest earned runs in baseball. That is a recipe for October baseball.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 09: Francisco Lindor #12 of the New York Mets hits a RBI sacrifice fly to left field in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field on May 09, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 09: Francisco Lindor #12 of the New York Mets hits a RBI sacrifice fly to left field in the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citi Field on May 09, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /

2) The Mets Offense Has Not Played Up To Expectations Yet

If any fan had a gripe with the Mets at this point in the season it would most likely be due to the stagnant offense that has been displayed for the better part of the last month and a half. To be fair April was littered with disruptions for the Mets, from Covid-19 postponements and numerous weather issues it could be argued that many offensive players never quite found their comfort level in the batter’s box through the first month of the season in which was a very chilly April.

It’s also fair to wonder with the altering of the baseball before the start of the season, and in turn, it amounting to historically low offensive numbers across the entire game currently, that it could be a byproduct of the team’s offensive struggles to this point. Regardless of what the issues could be there is simply too much offensive talent on this 26-man roster to believe that the Mets offensive struggles will continue through the warm months of the season.

A big reason for the Mets offense being among the leagues worst has been Francisco Lindor’s awful start to the regular season. But that doesn’t go without saying that he has recently shown signs of turning it around which is only a boost to the prospects of the Mets offense fully breaking out. As a whole, the Mets are in the middle of the pack of the league in terms of team batting average after finishing first last season, and one of the worst teams in the league in OPS up to this point.

However, recent signs of the Mets getting out of their collective offensive funk seem to be on the horizon, and with this team being almost unbeatable when they score four or more runs per game, it will only bode well for the Mets run at the NL East crown.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA – MARCH 03: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch during the spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Clover Park on March 03, 2020 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA – MARCH 03: Noah Syndergaard #34 of the New York Mets delivers a pitch during the spring training game against the Miami Marlins at Clover Park on March 03, 2020 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

3) The Best Has Yet To Come For The Mets

Let’s face it, the Mets are missing a few key faces that have yet to make their regular-season debut in 2021 in pitchers Seth Lugo, Noah Syndergaard, and Carlos Carrasco. Both Lugo and Carrasco are expected back with the club by the end of May and Syndergaard should not be too far behind either as he has already begun his trail on the rehab Minor League rehab circuit.

The Mets will be getting two frontline starting pitchers and arguably, outside of Edwin Diaz, their most effective reliever back which will only be a boost for an already outstanding pitching staff. Currently, in the National League East no other team can claim they are expecting this quantity of talent to return to their roster.

The only other team who may have a player who could make an instant impact on the division race that is currently shelved is Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Mike Soroka. However, with his recent setback with his Achilles injury, the timetable on his return is questionable.

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It’s also important to note that the Mets best hitter early on in the season had been third baseman J.D. Davis who has been dealing with his fair share of minor injuries to this point in the season. It will benefit the team vastly when he returns fully healthy to an already potentially loaded Mets starting lineup in a couple of weeks, which will hopefully be clicking on all cylinders offensively. As noted above the best is still yet to come for the Mets and with numerous prominent players close to returning to the Major League roster it can only get better from here on out.

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