With the below average play so far this season, the New York Mets are finally getting some key players back from the disabled list.
To start the season, all you heard about the New York Mets was that their pitching was superior to that of the rest of the league. With a stacked rotation from starters 1-4, the only main issue was if Zack Wheeler could bounce back and be serviceable after missing the last two years. Well so far this season, Wheeler has probably been the Mets’ most consistent starter.
With Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom‘s inconsistency, Noah Syndergaard‘s injury and the fact that before yesterday neither Steven Matz nor Seth Lugo had even pitched this season, the Mets pitching has been beyond disappointing, to put it lightly.
Relying on guys like Robert Gsellman and Rafael Montero (as scary as that seems) not only created the inevitability that the rotation would be below average, it hurt the bullpen as well because they were undermanned and overused. While Gsellman is a nice pitcher to have, he would be better situated toward the back end of the rotation.
While the pitching has been the main issue surrounding New York this season, the offense has had key injuries to it as well. While players like Travis d’Arnaud have been on the disabled list multiple times already this year, we’ve seen Lucas Duda, Wilmer Flores and Asdrubal Cabrera on the disabled list and playing through injuries as well. Neil Walker has even been out the last few days with swelling in his left knee. We haven’t even mentioned that “La Potencia,” Yoenis Cespedes, had been out since April 20, before yesterday, of course.
Every team battles injuries on a season-to-season basis. It’s how the teams continue to push without their top players around for the long haul. We saw last year that the Mets, who dealt with injuries all season, were able to play through it and secure the top NL Wild Card spot. The one thing they had on a consistent basis, though, was their pitching. With that being said, let’s take a look at how these players’ key returns could effect New York in a positive way for the rest of the season.