After a strong performance last year leading the division for most of the season, a very disappointing end to the season last year the New York Mets are looking to finish this season with a better taste in their mouth. Adding the reigning Cy Young in Justin Verlander should help replace the departure of Jacob DeGrom.
Lineup
The Mets have one of the best top to bottom lineups in the league with a combination of power and contact. With Pete Alonso’s power and two of the best contact hitters in the league with Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo.
Francisco Lindor is looking to keep his bounce back year going and improve on it this year. If they can get similar production, or even better, they will easily have a top five lineup in the MLB. They also need to have Mark Cahna to continue getting on base because they do have guys that strikeout too much.
Rotation
The Mets have one of the greatest one-two-punches in the history of the league with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. Both have won three Cy Youngs and even though they are older they show now signs of slowing down. The rest of the rotation is going to be tested but should have more bullpen help due to the number of innings Scherzer and Verlander will pitch.
The thing for the Mets, who hopefully will be playing in October, will be the success of their two aces when it matters most. However, to ultimately win a world series someone will have to emerge as a number 3.
Bullpen
The Mets have the best closer in baseball in Edwin Diaz, and his electrifying entrance that ignites the crowd. The rest of the bullpen has been average and will need to step up. They have way too many leads late in games that will ultimately disappear due to bad performances from relievers.
Adam Ottovino and David Robertson are projected to give them substantial years, however someone else will need to step up in order to help this team reach their ultimate goal.
Overall
The New York Mets have a very good roster and without injury should definitely be playing in the postseason. The issue is they have had a history of choking when it matters most, so hopefully the addition of Justin Verlander will give them the confidence to close out games when it matters most.
The lineup will ultimately have to carry them when Verlander and Scherzer aren’t pitching but they are definitely capable of that due to their depth and star power. I would expect this team to make the ALDS before falling to a team with more pitching depth and better bullpen.
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