Los Angeles, CA. Mets starter Carlos Carrasco, Barquisimeto, Venezuela, after allowing five runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings, went down early last night with lower back tightness. That is not good for a team that now has 4 of its starters on the DL. But ace Max Scherzer looked good last night in a rehab game at AA Binghamton NY. So he will be back soon. They may have lost to a very good Houston Astros team last night but the crazy thing is that they keep winning games this year without their big guns on the mound.
This is different from what we are used to seeing from this organization. Most people would be thinking, oh, here we go again. The Mets will begin their yearly swan dive after the All Star break and go from first with a commanding lead in the NL East, to finishing out of the playoff picture again.
But this is a different team with Buck Showalter as manager on the field. He will give his players every opportunity to win every night. Making that lineup ready every game to prey on the weakness of the other teams and matching up the strengths of this roster better than anything we have seen in the past number of years.
Terry Collins had this makeup as a skipper, but did not get the support of the past owner. Steve Cohen is a different owner then what we are used to seeing and this new chemistry between him and Buck is the perfect storm this year. He also will give his manager and players what ever they need to be successful.
When the Mets get Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom back into the rotation, it may take them a few games to get back to their dominance over the rest of the league. These former CY Young winning pitchers will not disappoint. The club will have to make some room on the roster and adjust the starting rotation, but Showalter will know how to make that all work to the benefit of this club.
The season is basically at the halfway point and the Mets are leading the 2021 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves by 4 games. The Braves are not going away and will make this an exciting divisional race. But the Braves are not going to win this division with 88 wins this year. The Mets will not allow that to happen again. Steve Cohen will not allow that to happen and neither will Showalter.
