MARLBORO, NY – Hope springs eternal… but I’m already here to rain on the Mets parade before the season starts. There are some red flags as we speak and little has been done again by Mets management to address the infield and, of all things, the pitching.
“W’ stands for wins in baseball but for the Mets and their fans (me included), a “dubya” relates to Wright, Walker, and Wheeler. You can’t like what the guy replacing Bartolo Colon is experiencing in the first days of training camp. Zack Wheeler is the pick to match Colon and we all know what Bart gave us; eating up innings and pork chops at dinner time. Things don’t look good for Wheeler, who is coming off Tommy John surgery and is dealing with tenderness in the same elbow. More worrisome is the club’s history with doctors. As a Mets fan, do you believe any medical update from them? I don’t, and expect a lengthy stint or two for Wheeler on the DL. The snake-bit Wheeler is slowly running out of time for a successful Major League career, as Gsellman or Lugo take the spot in the rotation. Fingers crossed either is able to contribute as they did down the stretch last year.
Oh, and there’s standout reliever Jeurys Familia, who is facing discipline for making like Denis Potvin on his domestic partner or wife or whatever. Some reports have the ban along the lines of thirty games, and for a guy who saved many ballgames, you just can’t feel happy about any combination serving as understudy in Familia’s absence. This is a major deficit, no matter how you try to approach the problem.
Back to the “W‘s.” David Wright. Poke him with a fork because he is done. Why even show up in Port St. Lucie? It’s admirable for the face of the franchise for so very long to give it a go but he doesn’t have just a back injury – it’s a condition that isn’t going away and he will fight discomfort the rest of his life. So a combination of Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores will have to cover up this mess. Are there any prospects in the minors for the future at third base?
Then there’s the lower back of switch-hitting 2Ber Neil Walker, who lost the last month and post-season with a disc herniation and opted for surgery. The surgery went well but we are talking about a back again, and these things linger. I speak from experience. Baseball players are continually twerking torquing their bodies while batting and second basemen are required to pivot the lower body when starting the 4-6-3 double play. Walker will be looking for a long-term extension and the Mets shouldn’t be foolish enough to do so, no matter how well he produces this year in the number of games (125?) I expect from him.
The Metropolitans will go only as far as the top four starting pitchers take them and they are all that good. Increased production from the outfield bats will also have to keep the team afloat until Familia resurfaces.
I just have an uneasy feeling people, but cheer up, King of Twerk DJ Eberle is here tomorrow to cheer you all up. Please feel free to comment below and follow us on Twitter – @CheesyBruin & @MeetTheMatts, Instagram @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
