Category: Mets

3 reasons why: Mets will win the World Series

As the 2016 season approaches, I will be taking a look at the 10 teams with the best odds of winning the World Series and examining three reasons why each team may ultimately hoist the trophy. Today’s team:

Mets (8/1 odds to win World Series): The Mets, per FanGraphs, are projected to finish two games behind the Nationals in the National League East. But, of course, the Nationals were supposed to run away with the division in 2015 and the Mets won it by seven games. The Mets then relied on a dominant pitching staff to win the NL Pennant. In the process, Mets proved they have what it takes to reach the World Series, now they just have to win it.

Pitching: Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Bartolo Colon. The Mets’ rotation was a huge reason why the team fared so well in 2015 and everyone is coming back, plus the team is expected to add Zack Wheeler – who posted a 3.54 ERA and struck out 187 batters in 185 1/3 innings in 2014, but then had Tommy John surgery – at some point too. DeGrom (2.88 postseason ERA), Syndergaard (3.32 postseason ERA), Harvey (3.04 postseason ERA) and Matz (3.68 postseason ERA) all pitched well under pressure last season and that experience can only help them moving forward.

Experience: Regular season baseball and postseason baseball are completely different and just because a player or team is successful for the first six months of the season doesn’t mean they will thrive under the bright lights of October. However, the Mets proved that they can win in the postseason. The playoffs are all about pitching and clutch hitting and the team was able to do both of those things last season. There is no substitute for experience and everything the Mets went through in 2015, should be to their benefit in 2016.

Off-season acquisitions: The Mets biggest off-season acquisition was resigning Yoenis Cespedes. However, the club also made some improvments up the middle, adding Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker. Cespedes obviously helped the Mets get into the playoffs with a torrid second half. The 30-year old outfielder hit .287 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs in his 57 games with the Mets. Walker has spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Pirates and proven to be a very capable second baseman. Walker hit .269 last season and has a .989 fielding percentage. Cabrera hit .265 with the Rays last season, hit best batting agerage since hitting .270 in 2012.

AFL 10.19.15 Surprise at Salt River

Notable Performance:

Left-handed pitcher Ian Clarkin, the Yankees No. 7 prospect got the start for Surprise and allowed one run in four innings. Clarkin was a first-round selection in 2013 (33rd overall) and although he has plenty of talent, his young career has been hampered by injuries. The 20-year old appeared in just three games in 2013 because of a sprained ankle and missed all of the 2015 regular season with elbow troubles. In 2014, pitching for both Class-A Tampa and Class-A Charleston, he went 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 games – 16 starts. Read about Clarkin’s performance on MLBpipeline.com.

Best Plays:

— Cardinals shortstop prospect Aledmys Diaz made a nice play in the second inning as he fielded the ground ball up the middle, did a 360 turn and then threw to first for the out. Not the most challenging play in the world, but not an easy play either.

Later in the inning, Diaz made another nice play as he ranged to right to field a ball in the hole and was still able to start the 6-4-3 double play.

*Diaz did commit a throwing error in the sixth.

— Lewis Brinson, a Rangers prospect, made a terrific diving play in center to end the seventh.

— D-backs prospect Daniel Palka has impressed me multiple times with a strong arm in right. The clubs’ No. 29 prospect made another strong throw Monday afternoon on a flyball as he threw home and kept the runner at third.

Worth Mentioning:

— Brett Phillips hit leadoff for Surprise and after drawing a walk to start the game he stole second one batter later. Phillips, the second-ranked prospect in the Brewers’ organization, got a tremendous jump and stole the bag easily – despite a small stumble after taking a few steps. He stole 17 bases in the regular season.

Phillips later doubled and finished 1-for-3. He also made a strong throw from right to retire a runner trying to go from first to third on a single.

— The Mets’ Dominic Smith continues to impress at the plate. Smith has a really smooth swing and came through with a pair of singles and an RBI on Monday. Smith finished Monday’s game 3-for-3 and is now 6-for-8 in the Arizona Fall League.