Terry Collins has an offense to work with

The league better be taking notice of the New York Mets, as the team does not only feature one of the best rotations in baseball, but an offense and a bench that could be putting up some good numbers, or at least better than the numbers before. If new acquisitions Yoenis Cespedes, Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe can produce, the Mets will be a scary team to play down the stretch, and in October if they make it.

Although Sandy Alderson’s trade with the Braves may have frustrated fans craving a powerful hitter, the move has provided many benefits. The bench has become more threatening, while Terry Collins now has options to move players around the infield and outfield in order to get the most production from the lineup. Johnson and Uribe can provide some power to the lineup, although the newest Met will be mostly responsible for that.

Cespedes provides the Mets with a pair of power bats in the middle of the lineup, as Lucas Duda has rediscovered his lethal stroke, hitting eight homers in his last seven games. In last night’s game, we saw Nationals Manager Matt Williams deciding to intentionally walk Cespedes to face Duda, who would hit a go-ahead RBI double, leading the Mets to victory. This is going to happen throughout the remainder of the season, as the balance of left-handed and right-handed batters throughout this lineup will make it difficult for opposing managers to get favorable matchups.

Travis d’Arnaud’s return provides an upgrade offensively over Kevin Plawecki, even though Plawecki showed that he should have a promising future in the majors. The key for the Mets is to keep d’Arnaud healthy, as he has played in only 59 games this season. Last season, d’Arnaud had a good second half, hitting .265 and slugging .474. If he could do that this season, then the Mets lineup gets deeper, as there are more threats to hit a homer.

The biggest question mark that everyone must be thinking about is to what to expect from David Wright. When will Wright return to playing baseball, make it back to the Mets, and how much will he be able to produce? The Mets have options in Daniel Murphy and Uribe to play third, but if Wright could come back and produce at a high level, then the Mets lineup would feature another right-handed power bat to provide protection for Cespedes and Duda.

The Mets pitching staff has kept the team in contention, but now it is up to the offense to pick up the production. With great pitching performances occurring on a nightly basis, the offense needs three or four runs to provide their pitchers with a chance of winning. The Mets are 5-2 since acquiring Johnson and Uribe, and scored 15 runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The talent is there, and this lineup is not filled with rookies like it used to be. It is now on Terry Collins to get this offense going, while leading the Mets to a division title.