Weekend at Second

 

The Mets had their brief moment of being a second place team this year. And then one series with the Braves later they were back to third. 

To be completely honest, the Mets should have done more with this moment. They went into a series with a team who just kept losing starting pitchers, and would lose another one during the series itself, boosting a lineup with so many hitters on fire and so many great pieces suddenly working. And then they go and get blanked by Spencer Schwellenbach, who picked this exact moment to shift into gear, and limp away from the series having lost ground. It's the kind of thing that can only happen to the Mets.

Still, the Mets are going into this series with Minnesota with an even stronger lineup. Not only newer additions like suddenly-hot-again Jose Iglesias, hitting .342 with 17 RBIs in 40 games as a Met, and Luis Torrens, who's hit 10 RBIs and 3 homers in 21 games as a Met, but also guys they just traded for. Jesse Winker's been plugged into this lineup, and hopefully what he displayed in Washington wasn't a mirage. You're also seeing a major improvement from Mark Vientos, who took years to come into his own, and was able to come from behind Brett Baty and capitalize on the open 3rd base position. Vientos has been hitting .285 with 14 homers and 38 RBIs, with an .882 OPS higher than anyone else in this lineup. 

The Mets' lineup has more really impressive pieces than you might be thinking. Like, you look at this team and you go 'well Alvarez is good...Martinez and Bader are good...Lindor and Nimmo are obviously good...Alonso's good, Vientos is good, Winker's good...shit that's basically the whole thing.

And somehow the rotation arrangement of Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, David Peterson and Tylor Megill is actually pretty damned good. I think all five of these guys have been given up on by fans at some point in the last few years, and they're all just on this year. Severino's 7-3 with 94 Ks, that's extremely good. Manaea's 6-4 with 101 Ks. Peterson's 5-1 with a 3.50 ERA. This was a rotation that was supposed to solely innings-eat, and they're all actually doing really well for themselves. Yes, it would have been nice if Kodai Senga had survived past that one start, but they somehow have the depth to leg it out. I wouldn't be shocked if they try to swing somebody, just for security's sake, but this is a lot to work with. 

The Mets are definitely playoff caliber this year, and have so much to work for that just didn't seem attainable in the early Cohen years. Something's clicked, and hopefully it leads them to a surprise triumph this year.

Coming Tomorrow- A strong starter who may have just seen his rotation go from good to amazing.