BLOOMINGBURG, NY- Being a New York Mets fan is a lot like Charlie Brown attempting to kick a football placed by Lucy Van Pelt before the dark haired girl pulls the pigskin back only to have Chuck land on his keester–again. What I’m saying is the Metropolitans are probably teasing us into believing they’re going to make a serious run at a Wild Card berth with the current 15-5 in the last twenty games streak. right? They stand one game under the magical .500 mark and have the Miami Marlins on deck for four games starting with today’s doubleheader.
Sure, this team has been feasting on some bad teams during the hot streak but that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to entertain thoughts of post season baseball. After the Marlins series this squad will be stepping up in class with series against the Nationals, Braves 2x, and Indians so maybe in a couple of weeks we’ll have a better idea if this is a charade or not.
You can’t help but think where this team might be if the bullpen didn’t screw up so many ballgames. Scoring runs surprisingly hasn’t been the problem it was last year even without the perpetually injured Yoenis Cespedes and the decline of the gimpy Robinson Cano. The Mets have unbelievably lucked into a few budding stars in Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso. They’re getting some serious mileage out of Todd Frazier. Ahmed Rosario has been stroking the ball while upping his defense at shortstop, J.D. Davis is red hot with the stick, and Michael Conforto is hitting the ball for power. The starting five is formidable even with the trade of Jason Vargas to the Phillies which will come back to bite the Blue & Orange in the arse for certain. Who knows what this Stroman character is going to give you but you’ll take it so long as the top four hurlers are doing their jobs.
So why not the Mets? Well, things have gone bad for most of the team’s history as that black cloud just follows them year after year. Defense is a major flaw and that stable of relievers, jeez! Management did nothing to improve the team or it’s barren farm system which tells me the suits don’t have as much faith as the fan base may have at this point and time. If Brodie Van Wagenen was “all in” on this year he would have made a move but when you have little to zero chips to trade you can’t get a difference maker for a playoff run. Can they? Yes. Will they? We’ll see soon enough so long as they don’t spit the bit with this series against Miami.
