1 preseason Mets take that has already gone cold

What’s your coldest New York Mets take? Right now, it might have something to do with the left-handed relievers they opened the season with.

The Mets ignored the bigger name free agent options out there. Instead, they picked up Chasen Shreve from the scrap heap then added Joely Rodriguez in a rare trade with the New York Yankees. Shreve has been solid all year long. Rodriguez got hammered early and saw his ERA go as high as 15.43. There was a stretch where he allowed at least one earned run in three straight appearances.

Lately, Rodriguez has figured things out or so it appears. The last time he gave up a run was on April 16. Before Sunday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, he had actually not even given up a hit since that game. Now with an ERA of 5.19 through 8.2 innings of work, takes about these two lefties have gone cold.

The Mets still shouldn’t get too comfortable with these two lefties but let's enjoy it anyway

Numbers in early May don’t necessarily mean much because of the small sample size. Right now, the Mets look like they made wise decisions with their bullpen as far as selecting their southpaws. Time will tell if they have can keep this up.

A left-handed reliever should remain on their trade deadline “watch list” because of their lack of options behind these two within the organization. If either struggles for a prolonged period of time or gets hurt, the Mets are going to need to shop around in July for some assistance.

Mets fans were fairly confident in this team and even those who don’t bleed orange and blue seemed to like what the front office had assembled. There were a few questions about the abilities of some other players, too. Did the Mets overpay for Mark Canha? Would a rotation featuring Carlos Carrasco and Taijuan Walker work out in their favor or did they need to move one to the bullpen?

Not even a full month of baseball has been played yet. Rodriguez could end up as a gem in the bullpen by season’s end with Shreve looking like the weaker addition. It’s early. But those thoughts that the Mets wouldn’t survive with these two lefties—admit it, we ALL had them—can be shelved away for now.

Stay optimistic. The Mets are riding high, winning games, and freezing up any negative preseason takes we had.