To say that the New York Mets have been through a bizarre first month of the season would be to vastly understate the case. They have played fewer games than any other team in baseball, having been waylaid by any number of different things, including rain, snow and COVID-19 (on the part of their opponents, that is).
We’re not kidding when we say they’ve been about an even money proposition to get postponed; that is what happened in no less than seven of their first 14 scheduled games. So they have had to schedule some doubleheaders to catch up. And things kind of get thrown out of whack, which has quite an effect on a pitching staff, especially one that isn’t even 100% intact yet.
Even after playing a twin bill in VERY cold Denver on Saturday, they still had played only ten games, while everyone else in Major League Baseball had 13, 14 or 15 games under their belts.
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But the Mets had still won six of their first ten games, and it may be a big surprise to you as to how they’ve done it. Suffice it to day that it bodes well for a team that has been posted at +1100 to win the World Series.
We’re not going to kid you; offensively, things could be going a little better for the Mets right now. You might expect them to be operating with more power with a lineup that fields the likes of Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith and Francisco Lindor.
Yet, through the first ten games, they had only six homers. Sure, it is unusual, as they were a respectable 9th in the majors in round-trippers last year and 11th in 2019. A trip to Coors Field, customarily used to a lot of long balls, hasn’t been all that profitable in that regard, because the cold weather (which snowed out a couple of games) has made the air heavier.
Unexpectedly, the offensive star has been outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who is tearing up the National League at the moment. Nimmo has been an effective player when healthy; in both 2018 and 2020 his on-base percentage has been over .400.
This year, Nimmo has already had a trio of three-hit games. Through Saturday’s action, he was leading the majors in batting average (.471) and on-base percentage (.571).
But when you think about it, the pitching is what has kept the Mets (+600 to win the NL pennant) at or near the top of the division.
Going into Saturday’s games, for instance, they were second in the majors in Earned Run Average (2.82), home runs allowed per nine innings, strikeout-walk ratio and Fielding Independent Pitching (referred to as FIP).
The way this schedule has been distorted, it has taken their top two starting pitchers on a bit of a ride. A week ago, Marcus Stroman went to the mound against Miami and threw just a handful of pitches before the umpires called it due to rain. And Stroman was angry about the way they handled it. He then started again Tuesday and was brilliant against Philadelphia.
Jacob deGrom, the two-time Cy Young winner, had his start in Colorado put back a couple of days because of the snow. He went on Saturday and gave up three runs in six innings.
It is fair to say that the pitching situation is not 100% settled. Carlos Carrasco is still rehabilitating his hamstring in Florida, but he will be back sooner than later. Noah Syndergaard, after surgery, is expected back mid-season. They’ll have others back, including Seth Lugo and Dellin Betances.
