3 Mets news stories we hope to see this summer, 2 disastrous ones they can skip

NY Mets news story we hope to see: A team built on its starting pitching

Mets fans love their power-hitting rookies. They want their stars to meet expectations. They also demand a team with good pitching. This has become ingrained in the culture of this franchise. Strong pitching won them their two championships. It’s the one working recipe fans have ever seen.

This year’s Mets were supposed to have a starting staff capable of carrying them deep into the postseason. Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander aren’t collecting mega bucks at the tail-end of a lengthy contract. Scherzer is only in year two with Verlander only a handful of starts into his contract. Those two alongside Kodai Senga and MLB veterans Carlos Carrasco and Jose Quintana need to be the ones who make up for this team’s lack of offense.

It’s easy to see how the Mets hitters do underperform and become much closer to league average than expected. Players are getting older. Each night will feature at least two or three guys who probably shouldn’t have a full-time gig in the majors.

Brilliant shutdown starts from Mets pitchers will come as a relief for fans, too. Losing a pitcher’s duel is easier to accept than getting outslugged. Plus, who really believes the Mets can outslug all that many teams? A tight 2-1 game is more palatable.