CATCHING UP ON THE METS
Four things to watch for as they get ready for this unusual 60-game sprint
We’ve all done the math. With the way the impending MLB schedule is expected to work, the Mets will play 40 games against their National
League East opponents in the Braves, Nationals,
Phillies and Marlins. Next up are four or six games against the crosstown rival Yankees. That reserves about 14 games for AL East interleague play against the Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays and Orioles.
We can predict how the Mets will do in a 60-game sprint which, at least on paper, has made New York’s task more difficult than it would have been in the usual marathon season. But the beauty of the never-seen-before short season is the element of surprise. No one can really anticipate how one given team will fare — this is your chance, Marlins and Pirates, prove us wrong. These are unprecedented times.
But there are some elements about the Mets’ forthcoming season that haven’t changed since operations were shut down three-plus months ago due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Amazin’s and their patient fanbase can anticipate a number of debuts and interesting storylines all the way to the October — with or without their speculative playoff contention.
Luis Rojas’ managerial debut
It’s hard to believe it’s been five months since Carlos Beltran was ousted from the skipper’s office after his involvement with the Astros’ sign stealing scandal. The Mets soon made the resourceful decision to hire Luis Rojas as the 23rd manager in franchise history, and fans will finally get the opportunity to watch this first-year skipper transfer his lifelong baseball knowledge (Rojas is the son of legendary manager Felipe Alou) onto the field amid a bizarre abbreviated season.
The downside for Rojas is the lack of fans in the stands as he manages his first bigleague game. His baseball
royalty of a family will be subject to their television screens, instead.
Pete Alonso’s sophomore year
The 2019 major league home-run leader crushed 53 dingers and is ready to defend his title after making noise in his memorable rookie season. Alonso put together one of the greatest offensive rookie seasons in major league history, setting numerous MLB, NL and Mets club records along the way. The first baseman will undeniably be held to a higher standard as he sets out on his sophomore year in the big leagues, and Alonso wouldn’t want it any other way.
The 25-year-old thrives on competition and has a knack for meeting high expectations. Alonso became the first Met and first rookie in MLB history to lead the majors outright in homers with a rookierecord 53. He finished fourth in the majors with 120 RBI, tied for third with 85 extrabase hits, placed 10th with a .583 slugging percentage and 11th with a .941 OPS. What’s next on his list? Alonso said he wants to win a Gold Glove. No big deal.
Jacob deGrom vying for the three-peat
Speaking of high standards, the Mets’ back-to-back Cy Young winner will try to go for his third straight award this year. Jacob deGrom finished 2019 with a 2.43 ERA across 204 innings and posted an 11-8 record in his sixth MLB season. He struck out an NL-leading 255 batters in 32 starts and recorded a 0.97 WHIP. All of which followed a videogame 2018 season when deGrom recorded a major-league leading 1.70 ERA over 32 starts.
Mets fans were spoiled, for once, through two consecutive seasons with deGrom on the hill. The three-plus months away from the field are expected to alter many player performances during this shortened season, and it will be interesting to see how deGrom handled the baseball hiatus and, most notably, how he will overcome it.
Dellin Betances’ debut
GM Brodie Van Wagenen made a splash this past offseason and signed former Yankees setup man Dellin Betances to a one-year deal with hopes of offering closer Edwin Diaz — who deeply struggled in his debut season with the
Mets — some support in the bullpen.
Betances is coming off a right shoulder injury that sidelined him for all but one appearance in the 2019 season. He sustained a partially torn left Achilles upon his brief return in September for the Yankees and spent this spring camp being extra cautious with that ankle, which may have impacted his lack of velocity in March exhibition games.
The biggest asset Betances brings to the Mets may be his history of being one of the few workhorses left in the game. It’s a quality that will prove valuable especially in an abbreviated season, when one significant injury can cause a major blow to the ‘pen. Over five seasons from 2014-18, the right-hander averaged 68 relief appearances and 73 innings per every 162 games. Betances was a consistent innings-eater while putting up All-Star numbers. He’ll try to pick up where he left off before his injury-riddled 2019 season. He’s had three extra months to recover, and expectations are that Betances should be fully healed in time for Opening Day around July 24.