Mets 2022 Start – Miles Ahead

The Mets started out 3-0 for the first time in 10 years! Even in their 2015 World Series run they didn’t start 3-0, they started out 2-1. This team is miles better than that 2015 team, and they haven’t made the actual playoffs since that World Series run (they did make the Wild Card game the year after but they were erased 3-0).

The Mets have won every game by 4 or more of the season against the Nationals, I believe that was expected, the Nationals are projected to be a bottom five team, by me and other sources. The pitching has been dominant, as usual (until the whole staff gets injured), especially the starters. The bullpen hadn’t blown any leads till the fourth game, and to add to that, they’d only allowed one earned run. Spectacular! The Mets can’t go 162-0, nobody can.

The hitters have also been good, Pete Alonso hit the first grand slam in baseball this year and the first in his career. Although, early signs show that the Mets offense is a flash in the pan because the scoring comes in one flash and then the offense is quiet for the rest of the game. The game on April 10 was a perfect example of this, the Mets score two early and then do not have another man cross the plate for the rest of the game. The final score being 4-2, with 3 scored in the eighth by the Nationals.

The Mets haven’t had a good old-fashioned rally, not that they needed to yet, but I want to see a 4 or 5 run inning without a grand slam. When that happens, at least somewhat consistently, that will be a great sign.

The rest of the NL East is going to be a challenge. Over the weekend, the Marlins have been contending with the Giants, even taking a game from them. The Phillies are beating up on the Athletics and after an offseason where they spent a handsome amount, they’re looking scary. Although the Reds are putting up a great fight against the Braves, the reigning champs will bounce back.

This happens every year, the Mets start out great and then once they reach the top of the hill, they drop faster than you can say, “The Mets aren’t making the playoffs.”

Will the Yankees’ payroll finally equate to success? We’ll see, they’ve won two straight vs. Boston and they’re looking for more. The pitching and the hitting have been looking good for the Yanks, except they haven’t been making much separation between them and the Red Sox yet. But hey, it’s just the first weekend of baseball.

Some takeaways I had were that the Blue Jays are going to go very deep into the season, they might even finish first in the stacked AL East. Both the Phillies and the Cardinals are also teams that could go deep into the playoffs, they both have shown offensive flashes and have generally stacked lineups. The only question that remains is will their pitching hold up? The Royals will not be as bad as early-season projections have them being, now, they will probably be last in the AL Central but don’t count them out of fourth. Can the Rockies pull themselves out of misery in the NL West? They took a game from the Dodgers, the best team in baseball. The same thing goes for the Rangers, they had a huge offseason and they’ve been putting up really good fights against the Blue Jays, as always, the shaky thing is the pitching.