Mets don’t feel like one of baseball’s elite but the record says otherwise

Maybe it’s because Jacob deGrom hasn’t thrown a pitch all season for the New York Mets. Perhaps this feeling is due to the fact that the team doesn’t have any clear-cut MVP candidate although Pete Alonso is emerging as someone who could slip into the conversation.

Whatever it is, the Mets just don’t feel like an elite team this season. How can that be? They’ve steamrolled through the first month and a half with no challengers within the division and plenty of wins outside of it, too. They are beating good teams at home and on the road. Yet there’s this feeling that this Mets team is far from elite.

NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells said it best: “You are what your record says you are.” In which case, the Mets are indeed an elite team of 2022.

The record the Mets have is more important than their appearance

The Mets aren’t regularly beating their opponents into a pulp nor are they putting up outstanding numbers. Their early success is, in part, due to having a well-balanced team.

If you look around the rest of the league, there are plenty of underperformers whose current numbers should rise. There are also some who will see reality set in as their batting averages drop 50 points.

The Mets don’t have too many players like this. A few hitters have been underwhelming. A couple will undoubtedly see their totals drop, too. But nobody is hitting .350 that shouldn’t be. No pitcher is off to a Cy Young beginning. The Mets are playing close to their averages. It has been a recipe for success.

The Mets have a large lead in the National League East thanks to some timely and frequent hitting to go along with a strong starting rotation performance. The Mets don’t rely on the home run like so many others. A quality start, a couple of singles and a double to clear the bases, followed up with some clean innings from the relievers usually ends with a Mets win. If it becomes sustainable, they won’t drop out of first place anytime soon.

“You are what your record says you are,” is the perfect quote from Parcells to sum up this Mets team.

And to quote another legend in his field, Larry David, I’d say the Mets are, “Pretty, pretty, pretty good.”