Last night the New York Mets did something historic. As a team they hit 15 extra-base hits, and eight home runs, led by none other than David Wright. In his first at-bat four months removed from the game of baseball, he crushed a pitch into the second deck in Citizens Bank Park. Wright’s power display was followed by Juan Lagares, Wilmer Flores, Travis d’Arnaud (back to back), Flores again with the go-ahead runs, Michael Cuddyer, Daniel Murphy, and finally Yoenis Cespedes joined in the ninth inning to make the game a 16-7 blowout. Two months ago, if Jacob deGrom had allowed six runs in just 2.2 innings of work, not only would the Mets have assuredly lost that game, but they might have not showed up for the next one either. This team however, is rejuvenated. It is healthy. And it is scary.
Last night brought up some fond memories as well. I was at the game in Philadelphia when the Mets hit a then team-high seven home runs, back on April 19th, 2005. My friend Doug and I had nothing better to do, so we decided at the last minute to drive down to Philly and catch a ballgame. After 40 minutes down I-95, we took in a spectacular show. The score was a little more lopsided in that 16-4 rout. The Phillies were not yet what they would become, and the Mets were relying on some young talent and important veterans to push them toward the playoffs. Most notably, a Wright home run, two by Jose Reyes, two by Victor Diaz, a Mike Piazza souvenir, and believe it or not one by Doug Mientkiewicz. It was such a nice surprise of a game. Any night something can happen that’s never happened before.
August 24, 2015 is proof of that. The current Mets team reminds me of that 2005 squad a little too. The offense is a nice blend of veteran talent, mixed with some young position players proving themselves in a playoff push. Flores is a testament to the youth factor. Whatever we want to say against his practicality as a baseball player, he has been performing very well since his future with the Mets was called into question. Since July 29th Flores’ batting line is .328/.366/.507 with four home runs, seven doubles, 14 runs driven-in, and 16 runs scored. He’s done it with a BABIP of .357 of course, but he’s having a hot stretch. That’s all successful hitters are is hot stretches. The good players just managed to string more together. The great ones make it look easy. Flores makes nothing look easy, but he’s on his way to being in that good player category. He’s also been playing very passable defense at both second and shortstop for most of the season.
The pitching staff is where the comparison doesn’t float as nicely. Other than Pedro Martinez‘s fantastic first year with the Mets, 2015’s pitching rotation is far and away better than the 2005 version. Now though, the Mets can throw out three young pitchers doing their best impressions of Martinez’s numbers from that season. The Mets, for all this recent offense are actually build to out pitch you. When the staff’s ERAs normalize, the Mets have the potential to blowout a lot of teams between now and the end of September.
2005 is comparable for less quantifiable reasons too. It was exciting then, as it is again to watch the Mets play. Citi Field finally is starting to feel like a home. The seats are crowded, and the noise is tangible. The fans have really turned out on away games too. As if they knew the team needed them more than ever, the Mets have had a rousing cheering section in nearly every visiting park since the end of July. It’s a gitty feeling, and instead of being practical and downplaying the opposite team or any other endless list of reasons to second-guess, I’m just going to enjoy this moment. The Mets are great. They are honestly and truly great.
You beat the bad teams, but you don’t always demolish them. The Mets have been demolishing, to the tune of 9.6 runs per game for the past week. Their pitching has been getting steadily rocked, and deGrom’s humbling start was no different. Barring injury, does anyone realistically think deGrom will likely repeat those numbers, though? Or Jon Niese for that matter? Good teams get hot at just the right time. There’s still a whole month left to play, and as Monday showed, anything can happen. But if I were a betting man, I’d put my two cents on the returning Captain, and his New York Mets.
Sometimes it’s not the best team that wins, but the hottest team. Let’s see if we can sustain this.
We have some of, if not the best young pitching staffs in the game. But could that also be a weakness? The younger the players, the more likely they are to crack under pressure. Sure, deGrom was great when all eyes were on him in the All Star Game, but could he deal with the attention of a game that actually matters???