And now on to what makes the Mets the most frustrating team to follow: the lineup. I would say that just about every single pre-season evaluation I’ve heard about with the Mets lineup starts with the Jeopardy category-esque statement: “On Paper.” And it should, looking at the Mets lineup and their season averages, you can probably pick out about four better lineups in the National League: Phillies, Reds, Rockies, Cardinals maybe? But if if’s and but’s were candies and nuts, then EVERY day would be Erntedankfest according to Dwight Schrute. Injuries have ravaged the Mets lineup from the obvious (Reyes and Beltran’s seeming inability to leg out a double without their legs detaching from their body) to the less noted (David Wright was not the same –and still isn’t completely- after taking that fastball upside his head). Can the Mets lineup FINALLY put up the numbers that stat sheets say they should be, or is it another year of 2 runs and a cloud of dust?
Have to start with the fire starter, Jose Reyes. I couldn’t agree more with the assessment that when Reyes is right, everything seemingly falls into place for the Mets offensively. When he’s slumping, his bat seems polarized to breaking balls, and when he does get a piece of something, it’s usually a harmless pop up. But when he gets going, he’s one of the rare players who’s just as effective in the batters box as he is on the base paths. He’s equally capable of ripping a double down the line as laying down a bunt, and that’s just the beginning. I can’t remember who exactly it was against (either Benitez or Alfonseca I think) on Florida, but he forced three consecutive balks to get himself home a few years back. A Reyes single can take a pitcher directly off autopilot. That lapse in confidence while Reyes is on base, however brief, can lead to hitters seeing a hanger or two due to the constant threat of a steal.
All reports out of camp have Reyes in the best shape he’s ever been in, and when I saw him in spring training this past week he went 0-3 but hit everything hard, narrowly missing a homerun down the right field line. Reyes is in a contract year, and I hope the Mets (I won’t say the the father and son who shall not be named, just sell the team) open the checkbooks. If he’s healthy – always a concern with Reyes – I see something like his 2008 where he was a legitimate MVP candidate.
Fortunately it appeared that David Wright started to recover from his concussion last year. Obviously the symptoms aren’t there, but there are players who are never the same after actually taking one in the earhole. Wright was obviously way up in the strikeouts category last year, but that was largely a product of his May where he struck out a ridiculous 39 times. Every other month he was between 23-26 strikeouts, and if you lower May to 26 strikeouts it makes his total much more reasonable. Remember, Wright has had to carry the Mets offense more or less singlehandedly for the last two years, so a little bit of help and him not having to swing for the fences will make those totals go down in my opinion.
What’s great about Wright is that he’s in what should be his prime: 28 years old, 3 years to adjust to playing at home in Citi Field. He just needs some protection, which will hopefully come in the form of Bay and a healthy, if somewhat deteriorated, Beltran. When Wright stepped a little farther into the batters box to stop getting abused by the breaking ball in the dirt off the plate, the holes in his swing started to disappear. He became a little bit quicker on the high fastball, which had tormented him most of the season. It’s a secret to no one that he’s currently struggling in spring training, but that truthfully probably means nothing. I think if Wright finally has some protection around him, and has other options to share the load with on offense, he will be the #1 fantasy option at 3rd base this year.
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