NL East leaders to find out what they’re really made of
Bob Nightengale: Despite front office tumult and injuries, Mets like where they are.
PHOENIX – Their $341 million shortstop, until this week, has been a colossal bust.
Veteran starter Carlos Carrasco, who came along with shortstop Francisco Lindor in the mega-trade with Cleveland, still hasn’t thrown a single pitch.
Electrifying starter Noah Syndergaard has been shut down again with no idea when, or if, he’ll pitch this season.
They have 13 players on the injured list, down from a high of 17 that included six from the opening-day lineup.
Yet there were the Mets, sitting in first place in the National League East, at 27-21 with an MLB-best 4 1⁄2-game lead going into Thursday. They’ve been in first place since May 8, their longest stint since winning the NL pennant in 2015. Then again, they are the lone team in the NL East with a winning record.
President Sandy Alderson told USA TODAY Sports: “I think injuries have had something to do with that. Right now, we’re happy to be in the NL East.”
Alderson, coaxed back to New York by new owner Steve Cohen, is thoroughly enjoying the journey. Not everything has gone well. You don’t plan on hiring a general manager and firing him five weeks later because of lewd text messages sent to a female reporter. You don’t offer $105 million to free agent starter Trevor Bauer and expect to be spurned. You don’t enter a season anticipating that you’ll be firing coaches in early May.
But here they are.
“It’s been fun,” Alderson said. ““(Acting GM) Zack Scott has done an excellent job as we continue to build out the analytics side of the front office. Both the scouting information and analytic info has been pretty well received by the uniformed staff.”
Yep, just as Cohen tweeted Tuesday: “I’m noticing a lot less complaining when the team is doing well.”
And just last week, when the Mets injuries were piling up, it was Cohen who tweeted: “Anybody want to suit up?”
Can you imagine what this team will look like once Lindor starts to become one of those heroes? Entering Memorial Day weekend, he was hitting below .200. Recently he was on a 9-for-22 run (.409), raising his season batting average to .209 – an increase of 27 points in six days.
The Mets, beginning with a fourgame series Thursday against the Padres, are about to find out where they stand against the best, too. They play 11 of their next 13 games against the Padres and the NL Central first-place Cubs.
If the Mets reach the All-Star break still in first place, surviving the schedule and overcoming all of their adversity, who knows how entertaining Cohen might be on his Twitter account?
“Some people grow tired of dealing with Twitter, but I don’t think he’ll ever go conservative,” Alderson said. “He’s having fun with it. Of course, when you’re winning, everything is a lot more fun.”