Two baseball players talk after the game

Something Special Could Be Brewing for New York Mets

The New York Mets headed west Wednesday afternoon insisting they had nothing more on their minds than the game they’d just won against the woebegone Washington Nationals and the game that awaited Thursday night against the standard for National League excellence, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

But the beauty of the Major League Baseball season is how each game is a piece of a puzzle, presenting a mosaic that develops — both gradually and suddenly — in a way no other sport can match.

It’s how the Mets, who entered June with a 10 1/2-game lead in the National League East — tied for the third-biggest lead entering June 1 since divisional play began in 1969  — and will arrive in Los Angeles with the best record in the National League, are clearly in the midst of a transformative season for the organization regardless of how the club fares in the playoffs.

“It’s Billy and Buck and the front office — Steve did a great job of hiring professional baseball players and getting professional baseball players,” star shortstop Francisco Lindor said Monday night, referring, in order, to general manager Billy Eppler, manager Buck Showalter and owner Steve Cohen. “When you have that, good things happen.”

It’s been decades since the Mets had a team like this one, with so many elements that could accurately be described as the long-awaited missing piece. The truth, of course, is the Mets have long been more than one piece away from being a truly cohesive and competent organization, which makes their rapid metamorphosis all the more jarringly impressive.

Such an overhaul didn’t seem likely last fall, when the Mets — who led the NL East for 114 days but finished 77-85 in their first season under Cohen following his purchase of the team from the Wilpon family — looked like they might head into the lockout without a general manager.

Cohen hoped to hire a big name as the president of baseball operations, but Theo Epstein and Billy Beane rejected his overtures and the Milwaukee Brewers wouldn’t grant their president of baseball operations, David Stearns, permission to speak to the Mets. Another half-dozen executives were connected to the Mets but didn’t get the job before Cohen hired Eppler, the Los Angeles Angels’ former general manager, on Nov. 18.

Eppler, armed with Cohen’s billions, spent more than $250 million on free agents Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, Starling Marte and Max Scherzer before the lockout began Dec. 2. Once a new CBA was hammered out Mar. 10, Eppler acquired Chris Bassitt from the dismantled Oakland Athletics in exchange for two prospects.

Try one of our top-rated sportsbooks for MLB betting!
Draftkings
Draftkings
Our score 81%
Bet $5, Get $200 + No Sweat Bet up to $1000
New Customer Offer Upon completion of the promotion requirements, qualified customers will receive $200 in Bonus Bets instantly, or in the event of technical difficulties within 72 business hours. Additionally, once your bet settles you will receive any cash winnings from your Qualifying Bet if it wins. Bonus Bets will be issued as eight (8) $25 Bonus Bets. Maximum $200 in Bonus Bets awarded. 21+. Full T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.

It was hard to remember over the final penurious decade of the Wilpon era, but the Mets used to take big — and often errant — swings in the free agent and high-end trade market. Yet in their five newcomers, the Mets added New York-capable players who’d all participated in the playoffs and offered evidence of the season-long commitment it takes to reach October for the holdovers from 2019, when the Mets were 11 games under .500 in July before finishing 86-76, and 2021.

“I definitely think that veteran leadership and having a good presence of veterans on a team makes a huge difference,” said centerfielder Brandon Nimmo, who debuted with the Mets in 2016. “You cannot replace experience.”

While Scherzer was the biggest name and Bassitt perhaps the most essential addition following the injuries suffered by Scherzer and incumbent ace Jacob deGrom, the Canha-Escobar-Marte trio helped redefine what was an all-or nothing lineup. The Mets finished in the top half of the NL in runs scored just twice in the previous six full seasons despite posting an OPS+ at or above the league average each season.

This season, the Mets lead the majors with a .340 on-base percentage while hitting 47 homers, tied for 19th-most, and striking out 386 times, which is seventh-fewest. Canha, Marte and Jeff McNeil — whose attempted evolution into a power-hitter ranked among the Mets’ most frustrating endeavors the last two seasons — all rank among the NL’s top 10 in singles. 

In addition, the Mets are tied for fourth in the majors with 142 two-out hits after finishing next-to-last with 351 two-out hits last season.

“We kind of trust in one another — there’s a lot of vibing, we’re understanding in our identity and what makes us great and we’re staying true to that and we’re sticking to it, not trying to do anything more or less,” Canha said.

“Everyone’s just trying to hit the ball hard, get on base and get hits. That’s what fun: Getting hits.”

Presiding over the fun — from varying distances — is Showalter, a three-time Manager of the Year who was hired Dec. 20 and immediately became the team’s most forceful dugout presence since Bobby Valentine, who was fired just weeks after the Wilpons bought out Nelson Doubleday in 2002.

“I love how people say ‘Nobody’s evaluating you,’” Showalter said earlier this season in response to a question about Tylor Megill. “Well, if you’re standing next to the guy and you’re standing next to the cage staring at him, guess what? You’re evaluating him when he walks to the locker room. So I try to give them their space and if I’m watching him, it’ll be around a corner.”

Showalter’s attention to detail was obvious even in his introductory Zoom, when he discussed about baseball’s 90-foot increments and the challenge of building and improving each day. 

“The Scherzer (signing), the Bassitt (trade), Canha, Marte — those are great players,” said former Mets reliever Paul Sewald, who pitched under three different managers from 2017 through 2020. “Buck Showalter is your difference-maker.”

Showalter, who played in or managed 1,360 minor league games in the New York Yankees’ chain before joining their major league staff in 1990, has also helped make everyone feel a part of the team’s success — something which was often lacking under the Wilpons, who were infamous for, in the words of former Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard, treating players like “commodities” while also meddling in minor league matters. The Mets cycled through five Triple-A affiliates from 2006 through 2019.

When speaking about injured players, Showalter mentions Sean Reid-Foley, a solid middle reliever, in the same breath as deGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner. Escobar is believed to be the player behind printing up shirseys in honor of Travis Jankowski, a reserve outfielder who said last month he’s fine making the type of contributions that don’t normally get a player’s uniform sold in the team shop.

“I think it’s really easy for guys in lesser roles or guys coming up who haven’t been in the big leagues before to look around the clubhouse (and say) ‘That guy’s an All-Star, that guy’s an All-Star, that guy’s an All-Star — huh, one of us doesn’t belong, it’s me,’” Jankowski said. “But the guys in this clubhouse don’t allow that to happen. They don’t give you a chance to look around and think ‘Oh man, do I belong here?’ They just welcome you. They let you know, hey, you belong here, you’re one of us, we’re a team and we’re going to do this together.’”

Jankowski is expected to miss at least the rest of June after suffering a broken fourth right metacarpal while making a diving catch against the San Francisco Giants last week. In his place, Nick Plummer, who has been playing pro ball since 2015, received his first big league call-up and hit a ninth-inning, game-tying homer in Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia Phillies before homering and collecting three more RBIs against the Nationals on Monday.

“It always feels good, when you have an issue, to take from within — it’s a great morale builder in the organization that we’re always going to look from within,” Showalter said Monday night. “I remember talking to ‘Bolezie’ (Triple-A Syracuse manager Kevin Boles) driving in, I guess, two or three days ago, kind of drilling down on Plummer, about what I should know and not know.

“I know how it works. There’s somebody — a trainer filters over to the manager and says ‘Plummer just hit a homer. Hey, Plummer just hit a double.’ They’re up on that, because they feel like they’ve made the contribution that they have. A lot of people have a stake in him doing well.”

As well as the Mets are faring thus far, their achievements are being viewed internally with a bit of detached weariness that can only be earned after experiencing playoff baseball without winning a championship as often as Showalter — who has managed three teams to the playoffs but advanced to the League Championship Series just once — and most of the Mets’ imports. Among the newcomers, only Scherzer has won a World Series.

“There’s a massive difference between having a good team and having a winning team,” Bassitt said.

Any imperfections — particularly injuries — are shrugged off by Showalter with a variation of his go-to quote this season: No one cares about the Mets problems, they’re just glad the Mets have them.

“The full season is an absolute grind — it’s crazy,” Bassitt said. “So I think it’s just doing all the little things right and then just hoping at the very end that all that’ll pay off.”

Another little thing arrives tonight with the opener of the four-game series against the Dodgers. It’s a chance to put one more piece into a puzzle the Mets haven’t constructed in a long time — one that already looks worthy of a frame, even if Showalter understands he and the entire organization are a long way from figuring out if the final result is the raising of the long-awaited third World Series banner at Citi Field.

“We’ll find out in late September, October,” Showalter said Wednesday afternoon. “Curiosity is going to be satisfied. I’m OK with finding out about it when it gets here.

“I’ve got private thoughts, but it’s more about how we can put our best foot forward for (tonight’s) game now.”

Try one of our top-rated sportsbooks for MLB betting!
Draftkings
Draftkings
Our score 81%
Bet $5, Get $200 + No Sweat Bet up to $1000
New Customer Offer Upon completion of the promotion requirements, qualified customers will receive $200 in Bonus Bets instantly, or in the event of technical difficulties within 72 business hours. Additionally, once your bet settles you will receive any cash winnings from your Qualifying Bet if it wins. Bonus Bets will be issued as eight (8) $25 Bonus Bets. Maximum $200 in Bonus Bets awarded. 21+. Full T&Cs apply. Please gamble responsibly.

We're proud to have appeared in:

  • logo-SBC Americas logo
  • logo-News Channel 5 logo
  • logo-Mail Online logo
  • logo-AS logo
  • logo-Goal logo
  • logo-MSN logo
  • logo-Yahoo! logo