After capturing the National League pennant last season, the New York Mets are gearing up for another deep playoff run. But to do that, they will need to be buyers at the trade deadline.
The New York Mets made a deep run during the 2015 playoffs, surprising everyone when they made the World Series with such a young pitching rotation. With breakout performances from Noah Syndergaard and second baseman Daniel Murphy throughout the playoffs, the Mets were able to fend off the Los Angeles Dodgers and sweep the Chicago Cubs. However, they were unable to defeat the Kansas City Royals, falling just short of their third World Series.
The offseason was a big one for this team, as trade deadline acquisition Yoenis Cespedes re-signed with the club.
Next was deciding on what to do with Murphy, who rejected the Mets’ qualifying offer. He eventually signed with the Washington Nationals. However, though Murphy’s departure hurt the Mets, the team made up for it, trading Jon Niese to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Neil Walker.
The team also signed Asdrubal Cabrera to play shortstop and thus fixed their lineup holes. Or so they thought.
Currently, the Mets are 34-28, 4.5 games behind the Nationals in the NL East. They own the second Wild Card spot by two games, but have not built a healthy lead like expected in the preseason.
Where do the Mets go from here?
The Mets have arguably the best starting rotation in baseball, boasting the likes of Syndergaard (6-2, 2.00 ERA), Steven Matz (7-3, 2.71 ERA), Jacob deGrom (3-2, 2.80 ERA), and Matt Harvey (4-8, 4.66 ERA).
However, while these pitchers are reliable to throw deep into ball games, the lead is not always preserved. The team has let countless games slip through its fingers, both because of struggling relievers and hitters.
Only two relievers have an ERA under 3.25. Their closer, Jeurys Familia, has been his dominant self, posting 21 saves and a 3.56 ERA. However, after these three players, there is not much as far as reliability goes.
Hitting is where the team is struggling most. David Wright and Lucas Duda are on the disabled list, Curtis Granderson is hitting an abysmal .218, and the team has no batter hitting above .300.
They produce no run support for their pitchers, ranked 28th in the majors with 229 runs. Their batting average as a whole is .233, good for 27th.
The Mets already made two moves this season to try and fix their hitting woes, acquiring 2B/OF Kelly Johnson from the Atlanta Braves and 1B James Loney from the San Diego Padres.
But, there is a lot more to address if the team wants to make another playoff run and more importantly, take home their first World Series since 1986.
Next: Fixing the Bullpen