Opposite Poles

 

I'm headed into New York today to see an old friend in Manhattan. I don't get into the city as much as I'd like to. I've got a lot of friends there, spread throughout the city, and it costs more than I'd like to get up there. I know I'm getting to a Yankee game in a few months, probably another later on. It just becomes an occasional treat. Y'know, I live a 90 minute train ride away, give or take a drive to the train itself, it's a nice luxury to have. And it's a great day to just walk around, take it in.

I say this because it's gonna be weird being in the city at a time where the Mets are king. The Yankees are no slouch, let's be clear, but the Mets are the best team in baseball right now. Nobody's hitting like the Mets, nobody's pitching like the Mets. Nobody, not even the Dodgers, are doing what the Mets are doing. And even I have to just stop and watch. Brandon Nimmo has a 9-RBI day the other day, Pete Alonso's got an OPS over 1, Lindor's hitting .300, and now Alvarez and McNeil are back and hitting. Everything seems to have clicked. 

The Alonso thing is why the Mets are so thankful to have locked up the guy going forward. You do not want one of the best power hitters in the league going anywhere else. Alonso had hit 226 home runs as a Met, and since the contract he's hit seven more. But that's not all. Right now he's having a wholly excellent start, hitting .349 with 28 RBIs, a 1.088 OPS and 11 doubles. He's excelling at so many more things than usual, which has to be a relief for the Mets. They're used to somebody signing the contract and losing dimensions, like Jason Bay or Vince Coleman or Yoenis Cespedes. Alonso seems like so much more than a power hitter right now, and it's the best season for it. It's funny, last season Alonso hit only 34 home runs, a low for him in a full season. There's a chance he outdoes that mark this season, and at this rate he certainly could.

The rotation is the reason why this team has won 20 games. Kodai Senga, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill, David Peterson and Clay Holmes have all been pitching beautifully so far. Canning is 4-1 with a 2.61 ERA, his best numbers in years [proving they just needed to get him out of Anaheim]. Senga is fully healthy and at peak levels, 3-1 with a 1.26 ERA so far. Even Peterson, sort of the 5th man, is a really strong piece, with a 3.06 ERA and 30 Ks. The thought was that without Sean Manaea, Paul Blackburn and Frankie Montas, the rotation would buckle a bit, but that hasn't happened yet. The bullpen also looks pretty good, though the prospect of potentially losing A.J. Minter isn't great. 

This Mets team, so far, is what Steve Cohen wanted to build. A competitive, overpowering and fun team, led by Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto, who are leading the division and in great shape already. The real test will be sustaining this over the next 5 months, but who knows? Maybe they've finally figured it out.

Coming Tonight: The Twins traded their best power hitter for this guy. Since the trade, the power hitter dropped from his peak and retired. The guy they traded him for has been a lot better.