New York Mets unexpectedly disrupting Nats NL East ambitions
The bionic right arm of 41-year-old, fairly portly Bartolo Colon (4-0, 2.77) has the New York Mets (13-3) in a really good place right now — atop the NL East standings. Currently riding an 11-game winning streak, the Mets have exhibited a number of qualities that playoff teams possess. It all started with a victory on Opening Day against baseball’s best team on paper, the Washington Nationals.
The first admirable trait the Mets are showcasing is their ability to overcome adversity. Before the season even began, they lost former first round draft pick Zack Wheeler from their rotation. Josh Edgin was another casualty, as was interim closer Jenrry Mejia from the bullpen for his positive PED test.
The physical ailments didn’t end there. Starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud was experiencing a breakout season before fracturing his right hand. He’ll likely miss at least three weeks now. Chalk up another early season DL visitation for third baseman David Wright who currently resides there with a hamstring strain. In spite of all this 25-man roster turmoil, the Mets keep winning.
To say that they’re doing it only with pitching is simply not true. The defense has been stout and the team is collectively hitting .263 in wins versus .183 in their three losses and they have scored the ninth most runs in MLB with 73. But the starting pitching has been merciless against the opposition.
The Mets’ rotation has an ERA of 2.82, third best in the league, and are the outright leaders in wins with 11. When manager Terry Collins announced Colon would be the Opening Day pitcher over the younger, harder throwing Matt Harvey, heads were scratched. Then all Colon did was throw six innings of three hit, one run ball while punching out eight to beat Max Scherzer and the Nationals.
Colon seems to be ageless on some days when he gets the ball. More often than not as a 41-year-old whose 97 mph fastball days are well behind him, Colon goes against the grain and remains an anomaly. Then one only needs to factor in that 2014 NL ROY Jacob deGrom falls in behind he and Harvey in the rotation, and the writing on the wall says opposing teams will probably lose more games than they win against these three pitchers in 2015. Even the second longest tenured MLB pitcher to Colon in the Mets rotation, Jon Niese (2-0, 1.50), is pitching great.
Finally, when it comes to the ever important inter-division bouts of MLB, the Mets are the cream of the crop. The club has only played divisional games this year thus far and have taken full advantage of playing in front of the home crowds with a 10-0 record. Their run differential of positive 26 ranks second in the league to only the Kansas City Royals (+33).
Assuming no other overly detrimental injuries find the New York Mets for the remainder of the first half, this team will only be more formidable once Wright, d’Arnaud and Bobby Parnell return from their stints on the DL. With their scorching start to the season, one of MLB’s biggest story lines in 2015 could be how the heavily favored Washington Nationals intend on playing October baseball if a repeat division title evades them.
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