5 reasons why Ya Gotta Believe in the 2022 team

The 2022 World Series Champion New York Mets. It’s a declaration that doesn’t just touch the money, it reprints all of the cash with your own face and likeness. Most Mets fans aren’t ready to fully commit and guarantee a championship. It’s understandable. The journey is just as much fun as the destination.

This year’s Mets team has been different from many others in the recent past. Even the club built under Steve Cohen in 2021 doesn’t compare to what this year’s team has done early on.

Through a little over a month of baseball, the Mets have clearly established themselves as the team to beat in the National League East. Beyond that, they look like the cream of the crop in the National League itself. It’s time to start believin’ if you haven’t already. Maybe these five reasons can convince you.

1) The Mets are a team more prone to comeback wins than late-inning blown saves

The Mets strike me as a team bound for far more comeback wins than blown saves. Both have already happened. Each will continue to appear as the season progresses.

Success in these two areas is largely dependent on two things. Avoiding blown saves comes down to having a trusted bullpen and a manager who knows how to use it. Mistakes will happen. However, they’ve been far fewer than recent Mets relief corps have allowed.

On the other side, come-from-behind victories require clutch-hitting and a never-say-die attitude. Each has its subjectivity. How do you truly measure a team’s attitude?

The eye and ear tests have provided everyone who follows the Mets a clear indication as to how well the club has passed in this area. They’ve already stuck it to the Philadelphia Phillies a couple of times. Just wait until the season gets later and those late comebacks by the Mets help another team collapse in September.

2) The Mets have a lot of great starting pitching and more to come

Starting pitching has been a huge weapon for the Mets early on this season. Tylor Megill has been a revelation. He isn’t just replacing Jacob deGrom on the roster. He’s doing Jacob deGrom things.

Max Scherzer looks like he’s worth every penny and Chris Bassitt is pitching his way into a contract extension or at least a nice deal in the offseason. Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker have also turned around from their weak finishes to the 2021 campaign. While there are hiccups at times, they have slotted in nicely for the back of the rotation.

All of this is being accomplished without deGrom and doesn’t even include the success David Peterson had in his small sample of starts. The Mets relievers aren’t blowing a lot of games because the starting pitching has done its job far more often than not.

The Mets began the preseason with what many expected could be the best starting rotation in the game. The deGrom injury sure did rain on some expectations. However, promising beginnings for everyone else and Megill’s rise have eased those fears.

Often, the best teams win the World Series because they outpitch their opponents. This is precisely how the 2022 Mets are winning games.

3) The Mets are making baseball decisions

Success for any team starts at the top. Without the right management, it’s going to be impossible for a team to build itself into contention.

There is no debating the Mets were heading in the right direction the moment Steve Cohen bought the team. Out from under the penny-pinching thumbs of the Wilpons, the Mets are now major spenders and unafraid to make costly baseball decisions. The biggest was the choice to DFA Robinson Cano to ensure they had the best roster possible. They Mets are going to eat close to $40 million as a result yet their roster is much better because of it.

This has been the approach the Mets have taken throughout Cohen’s tenure. Signing Scherzer was a baseball decision as much as it was a financial flex. This is a team that will spend money and do it in the wisest way possible. They’ve been cautious about simply adding the “best” players available. Instead, they’ve been knocking it out of the ballpark by adding the right ones.

The early success for New York this year looks sustainable. It begins at the top of the tower. The trickledown effect has infected the rest of the ball club in the best way possible. This is an unselfish team.

5) No Mets players are having unsustainable starts to the season

As great as the Mets have played this year, no one has really put up numbers that appear unstainable. Sure, Jeff McNeil will probably see his batting average dip. Tylor Megill may not win an ERA title either or even finish below 3.00. But nobody is doing anything entirely ridiculous. It’s not as if Starling Marte has already matched his career-high in home runs.

It’s a good thing that no Mets player is outperforming even the loftiest of early expectations. Because they’ve been able to win even without historic beginnings, it bodes well for their future.

The Mets are not dominating the opponent—although some nights it feels like it. They’re not no-hitting teams every night or winning a Home Run Derby. The Mets are winning games in a variety of ways. Even the close ones come with some ease.

I think by now we have a good idea of what the Mets can or cannot do. There will be more challenges ahead. However, at the pace they’re on, not much can derail them.

If all of these players continue to play to these averages with a little leeway in each direction, they should be fine. The National League East race should eventually tighten up. By then, maybe anyone else in the division vying for a playoff spot will have already run out of schedule.