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New York Mets Opening Day is nearing. Games count again. Your heart will be broken, mended, and filled with joy but also terror all at the same time. Welcome back, baseball!
There are, in the words of a former Mets pitcher, “good vibes only” around most fans this preseason. The lineup looks different. The rotation looks potentially dominant. Even the bullpen and bench are looking like they can help this team win a lot of games.
Sticking strictly with the expected Opening Day starters, it’s time to start setting some expectations and putting our predictions in digital ink. What will this Mets team accomplish in 2022?
1 prediction for NY Mets pitcher Max Scherzer: Fifth place in the Cy Young race
My backspace button is stuck after deleting all of those wonderful Jacob deGrom predictions. We know he won't start on Opening Day for the Mets which leads to the obvious selection of Max Scherzer. This comes with another caveat. He needs to be ready for Opening Day, too! Let's hope he is. What can we expect from this new ace in 2022?
In 2022, I'm predicting he finishes fifth in the Cy Young race. Why so low? He has won it before. He will probably also miss time. Voters like fresh players winning this award. They also require a guy to make as many starts as possible.
In case you're curious, I had deGrom finishing second. So much for feeling positive.
1 prediction for NY Mets catcher James McCann: If you don’t have anything nice to say…
It’s hard to make a preseason prediction for a guy whose abilities you don’t believe in. I’m sure James McCann is a swell guy. On the baseball field, too much imagination is needed to make a positive prediction for the coming year.
McCann might hit slightly better than the .232/.294/.349 he slashed in 2021. Is that a good enough prediction?
Looking at his career runs scored totals (not that it matters much) it’s kind of amazing to see him have only a single year crossing the plate more than 40 times. Here’s a prediction: he scores 40 runs this year!