3 advantages the Mets have over other World Series contenders

What can help the New York Mets in the final weeks of the regular season and into the postseason? It wouldn’t hurt to check for four leaf clovers or chop off a few rabbit’s feet for luck. Chasing rainbows could help, too. Whatever is possible, we should expect this Mets team to give it a try.

Luckily, they are pretty well built to have some advantages over other World Series contenders without resorting to black magic. The Mets have shown off their strengths plenty this year. Against other championship-hopeful ball clubs, it’s these three advantages that could give them an edge.

1) NY Mets have a huge advantage in the closer spot with Edwin Diaz

As much as the Los Angeles Dodgers appear to be better than the Mets, there’s a huge difference between Craig Kimbrel and Edwin Diaz. The Dodgers are going to be scrambling to try and find a permanent solution in the ninth inning before the season is over. The Mets, meanwhile, are cruising along with possibly the best guy in the game at the spot.

It’s not just the Dodgers having woes in the ninth inning. Close to home, we’ve seen the New York Yankees lose faith in Aroldis Chapman and replace him with Clay Holmes only for him to flame up, too.

Josh Hader of the San Diego Padres is capable of imploding and who really knows about any of the guys the Philadelphia Phillies might toss out there for the finale?

Even the Braves with Kenley Jansen don’t seem too sure of themselves sometimes. Closers are always capable of disappointing the fans. Even Diaz is not invincible.

However, there’s a much thicker line between how the Mets feel about their ninth inning man and how these other World Series contenders will for the last outs.

3) NY Mets have a diverse roster and a manager who knows how to use it

…it’s how you use it that matters most. This is especially true for any MLB roster. Buck Showalter up against any skipper in a chess match game of baseball has a chance to come out on top.

But a manager is also only as good as his tools. And Showalter, thanks to an active front office, has some good ones.

The Mets do lack star power in the lineup. They make up for it with role players like Daniel Vogelbach who can get plugged into any situation versus a right-handed pitcher. The same is true for Darin Ruf who is capable of feasting on lefties.

After the trade deadline, the Mets became much more of a platoon team. Even now dealing with injury losses of Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme, we should see them remain diverse with how they use their players. This could even extend to the pitching staff with how they choose to use Trevor Williams, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill.

The Mets definitely don’t have the deepest or the best roster in baseball right now. The bullpen is suspect sometimes. In the wrong situations, several of their hitters will show their weaknesses.

Trust in Buck is what makes the difference. He knows this team better than anyone.