In the midst of 2020, our dystopian nightmare, the national pastime returned with an all-to-welcome shortened season. The Metropolitans of NY started with the high hopes of every MLB team, but they struggled from the outset, unable to drive in runs. They proudly bring out the best pitcher in the National League every 5th day, and Jacob deGrom has not disappointed, but with Syndegaard having his elbow reconstructed and Stroman opting out of the season from fear of COVID-19, the remainder of the starting rotation could not keep pace.
Rookie of the Year and Home Run phenom Pete Alonso could not replicate his performance in his sophomore year, and Jeff McNeil got off to a very slow start. The 60-game sprint of a season makes it very difficult for a player to recover from prolonged slumps, but McNeil has managed and will finish with stats that look like he had a solid season. Unfortunately, the team didn’t benefit from his outstanding performance at the plate until the last month of the season.
The team never managed to put any kind of decent winning streak together, although they managed several losing streaks. As a result, they’ve had a sub-.500 record all season. As we head into the final series, they will face off with the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals to see who will finish last in the NL East. It is almost a tragicomedy to hear the Mets broadcasters continue to talk about the Mets chances to sneak into the expanded post-season via the final Wild Card spot.
Dominic Smith was a highlight this year, as he has displayed a prolific power stroke hitting doubles and Home Runs with remarkable regularity. His honest and emotional press conference about race relations in this country and the continued brutality Black Americans suffer at the hands of police was a moving and impassioned moment, leading to the team walking off the field and not playing the night’s game in protest. Andres Gimenez was another highlight, as this kid can just flat out play. He is an incredibly gifted fielder, making extraordinary plays look routine, and when combined up the middle with the bearded wonder Luis Guillorme, gave the Mets a top shelf double play combo. David Peterson is a great looking left hander who had a great season. Fingers crossed for his future with the Mets. Speaking of left handers, I don’t know what happened to Steven Matz, but he was patently awful. Edwin Diaz rebounded from his nightmarish 2019 to strike out so many hitters, he looked like he was pitching to Little Leaguers. The guy has some sick stuff. Michael Conforto had a stellar season, and I’d argue he was the Mets best all around every day player. He hit over .300, was on base at a pace above .400 and slugging was above .500. That’s quite a season with the bat. The Mets are not without talent, so it’s hard to explain that they’re under .500 and played so poorly at home. They struggled badly against left handed starters too, which certainly didn’t help.
I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the season as that would be unfair. Major League Baseball may not be the nation’s game as it once was, but it always will be for me, and I’m already looking forward to the playoffs which will be jam packed with games every single day. I only wish the boys from Flushing would be in the mix. It is of course mathematically possible that they will be. They’d have to win the final 4 games, and I don’t think they’ve had a 4-game win streak all season, and they’d need a lot of help from some other teams also trying to make the playoffs. So while the math says it could happen, I wouldn’t bet the mortgage on it, no matter what odds they gave me.
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