METS TAKE 2 STEPS FORWARD, 1 BACK

You really can’t tell that it’s April in Queens. Despite the sun shining, the wind blows a blistering cold. Hardly any trees have bloomed, save for a few that did so in early March. Everyone is trudging around in their winter coats, zipping from point A to point B to get into some warmth. There’s only two accurate indicators of April so far:

 

1. The Mets have played a homestand at Citi Field

2. Mets fans think the sky is falling, when it’s actually rising

 

You really can’t get more April than that. And while on paper it appears that the Mets have had a successful opening stretch to the season, many will be quick to tell you that the team stinks. That’s the problem with forward progress in a long baseball season. The best you can hope for is that a team will go two steps forward and one step back. In terms of wins, the greatest team of all time just barely scraped that criteria. And for every two things that the Mets are doing right, there’s one bad thing that everybody talks about. The Mets have given us many examples of this.

 

Two Steps Forward: The top of the lineup has been extremely productive and the big name players are showing leadership.

 

After a slow start, Francisco Lindor started the opening homestand with a bang. He hit a leadoff double to start the season at Citi Field, sent home by a Pete Alonso homer. In fact, up until today, Lindor has started every home game with a hit. That’s how you set an example for the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Juan Soto is an on-base machine and Pete Alonso is batting .333 with a team-leading 15 RBIs. The guys that are making the big money are making a big difference.

 

One Step Back: The bottom of the lineup is lost at the plate.

 

Although nothing in baseball is free, Mark Vientos (.119), Tyrone Taylor (.154) and Brett Baty (.111) sure feel like automatic outs. This can all be attributed to them being stuck in their own heads. Mark Vientos is on the verge of suffering the Sophomore Slump. He had a breakout year, an even better postseason and now he has a whole lot to live up to. Not to mention he is also just plain unlucky. There were several screamers in the past week that should’ve went for extra base hits if it weren't for the wind and other acts of god. Tyrone Taylor can feel the pressure of the roster growing around him. While he didn’t have the best 2024 season, his defense is good enough in center field to warrant his job. But he knows he needs to show up this year and the pressure is getting to him. Same can be said for Brett Baty. He had a tremendous spring, was essentially the best hitter on the team and loudly earned his spot to replace the injured Jeff McNeil. But now his bat has gone cold and as Jeff heals up, the weight of the world is crashing down on him. 

 

Two Steps Forward: Griffin Canning and Clay Holmes have taken their new homes in stride. They both have shown an incredible amount of poise and confidence and are getting outs at crucial times. 

 

After several years languishing in Anaheim, Griffin Canning is finally looking like the ace at UCLA again. He raised a lot of eyebrows as he mowed down the Houston lineup for 5 efficient innings. And when he ran into trouble with Yordan Alvarez waiting in the wings, manager Carlos Mendoza displayed his infinite trust by keeping him in the game. It was a sign of the immense growth that he has had and will have as the season goes on. Meanwhile, Clay Holmes has transitioned out of the bullpen and into a starting role with great results. In Tuesday’s matinee against the Marlins, he was one pitch away from an immaculate inning. This was part of a stretch where he struck out 5 batters in a mere 17 pitches. It was a beautiful thing to behold and he’s only going to get better as he gets more used to the role.

 

One Step Back: Griffin Canning and Clay Holmes keep running into bad luck as their pitch count climbs.

 

The aforementioned matchup between Griffin Canning and Yordan Alvarez ended with a run-scoring double and the proverbial yank off the mound. In his next start, he kept the Blue Jays wholly in check before giving up two hits to start the 5th and the game was no longer in his hands. For Clay Holmes, his 10 strikeout gem on Tuesday was tarnished by leaving the game with men on base, who all were immediately sent home when Huascar Brazoban gave up a home run to Derek HIll. When people see the statline, they’re going to ignore the 10 strikeouts and focus on the 4 earned runs. A great performance hampered by bad luck. 

 

Two Steps Forward: The Mets started their homestand with 5 straight wins, doing damage against teams that they should be doing damage to.

 

In total, the winning streak was at 6. All in all, they are playing like the team that we expected them to and then some. They have the lowest ERA in baseball at 2.10. The second lowest is the Cincinnati Reds at a whopping 2.78. This is a rotation led by David Peterson, Tylor Megil and the one Japanese pitcher that doesn’t play for the Dodgers. Where there is no star power, they are getting the job done. And where there is star power, they are also getting the job done. They have maintained a lot of the grit and never-say-die attitude from last year and added the highest paid outfielder of all time. Fun things are happening in Flushing, no matter how much the fans on the other side of the river want to complain and nitpick. 

 

One Step Back: The Marlins held them to a mere two hits in a 5-0 massacre on Wednesday.

 

And sadly, this is what people are going to remember. On the second consecutive day game in 40 degree weather, their bats were as cold as the windchill. Things weren’t great and I’m sure the fans did plenty of yelling about payrolls to keep themselves warm. At its core, that’s what April baseball is all about. Freezing your face off and being mad as if every game was do or die. In the doldrums of Summer, we become a lot more forgiving. Kind of. 

 

In the true fashion of taking two steps forward and one step back, the Mets are at 8-4. At the time of writing, that’s good enough for 1st place in the NL East, with the Phillies (7-3) pounding on the door. They now travel to the west coast for a weekend series in (checks notes) Sacramento? That’s followed by a few games in Minneapolis before coming back home. Hopefully, they’ll be coming back home to warmer weather…