3 harsh realities the Mets will have to overcome this year

2) Giving up home runs and walks is not a recipe for Mets pitching success.

This season has been marred by injuries to nearly all of the best arms on the Mets, but with only Jose Quintana still on the IL, the pitching staff is finally looking like the one Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler envisioned this offseason. That's good, because up until now, the mound, like Freddy Krueger's boiler room, has been a place of nightmares for Mets fans.

Home runs and walks have plagued the team, especially early in games, all season. We've spoken about the Mets' propensity for getting crushed in the first inning, but the reality is that opposing hitters have been battering the Mets' starters even after the first three outs.

Take away the Athletics, who don't deserve to be mentioned with other major league teams. Other than the A's, the Mets are one home run surrendered away from giving up the most in the league. They also rank in the bottom 20% of the league in walks allowed. If you tried cooking this recipe in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, it would yield one lump of dubious food. For anyone that hasn't traveled to Hyrule, that's no way to win a game.

The team has shown incredible fight in coming back from so many early deficits recently. Saturday night's 10-7 loss to the Rockies was a moral victory of sorts, as the Mets briefly held the lead after being down 6-0 in the third inning. Moral victories aren't going to catch the Braves, though.

Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander need to anchor this rotation. Kodai Senga needs to stop walking four batters every game. And the entire staff needs to keep the ball in the ballpark. There are kids in the outfield seats. Won't anybody think of the children?