What puts this start into perspective for the New York Mets is how rare it is for them. Last year, 19 games into the season, they were barely over .500 at 10-9 on their way to a 79-83 final record. In 2013, they were 10-9 and would finish 74-88. In 2012 they were 11-8 and finished 74-88. In 2011, they were 6-13. I could go on, but I don’t think I need to.
You have to go back nearly a decade to 2006 before you see a start anywhere close to the Mets 14-5 opening to 2015 and that year they started 12-7 and went on to the NLCS.
In fact, the only comparable start to this year’s Mets is the 1986 team that opened up the season 20-4, won 108 games and a World Series. So you see why Mets fans might be a little excited.
And the best part about it is, nobody, and I mean nobody, saw this coming.
In fact, only The Sporting News, as far as I can tell, even thought the Mets would finish with a winning record. And they acted like the Mets deserved a cake and a lap dance for doing that. No wild card prediction. No thought that the Mets would be in the mix, even in April, but just that they might squeak out 82 wins or so.
The mystery is how the Mets are doing it since their only significant acquisition this offseason was left fielder Michael Cuddyer, and his numbers are down from where they’ve been the last two seasons across the board.
Wilmer Flores is the only real change in the starting lineup, jumping Ruben Tejada on the depth chart and delivering with the bat, hitting .291 coming into Sunday.
That just shows the kind of depth the Mets are bringing to the park this season. David Wright was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained hamstring Sunday and you’d think losing him and his .333 batting average might be a problem, but New York just plugged in Eric Campbell fresh from Triple-A Las Vegas whose already picked up five RBIs and batting .264 and only 0.10 difference in their on-base percentage.
This is home grown Mets talent finally coming into its own, together, all at the right time. Right-hander Matt Harvey is back and 4-0 on the mound after sitting out last season recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Saturday night against the New York Yankees, Harvey was one out short of a complete game and the only reason they pulled him out was he had hit his pitch count. He finished up the 8-2 win just five hits, two runs, two walks and seven strikeouts.
Power and finesse: Brought to you by @MattHarvey33: http://t.co/p9xP0L6L1L pic.twitter.com/W7E5SRoQaD
— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2015
Need another feel-good story? How about the Mets’ other 4-0 pitcher, Bartolo Colon. Colon is about to turn 42 years-old and has opened the season with a 2.77 ERA, the second lowest of his 19-year career. Colon has walked one batter in four starts. One. That’s nothing short of incredible. Colon looks like he’s at the tail end of his second trimester, but he’s still getting his fastball in the low 90s and putting it exactly where it needs to be.
I’m Bartolo Colon. And I’m better than you: http://t.co/jJW6BZnuqt #ShowStopper pic.twitter.com/FoiaaHFtJ0
— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2015
There are no tricks to what the Mets are doing, nothing that’s going to blow up the highlights. No Mets player has more than two stolen bases. Flores leads the team in home runs with three.
As a team they’d committed all of nine errors before Sunday’s mess against the Yankees and six of those belonged to second baseman Daniel Murphy and Flores and their both still putting up a fielding percentage over .944.
Of course, leave it to the Yankees to ruin everything for everybody. Not only did they put a stop to the Mets’ 11-game win streak Friday, but they beat the Mets again Sunday night 6-4 in a pretty entertaining game, all considered. Flores took a hard shot on the ankle from Yankees’ closer Andrew Miller in the ninth inning and that will probably cost him at least a game, maybe two, putting Tejeda back in the starting line up, though he’ll probably still make a plate appearance as a pinch hitter against the Marlins Monday and Tuesday.
#SubwaySeries on WMML: #Mets 4, #Yankees 6, ^ 9th, 1 OUT – Wilmer Flores takes fastball to the lower leg.
— FOX Sports 97.9/1230 (@FoxSports979) April 27, 2015
The errors that the Mets have avoided so far this season all showed up against their Subway Series rivals, but that series will be an easy one to put behind them. All the last two losses do is show the Mets and the rest of the league that they’re human. Best to learn it now since they’ve got another 86 games they need to win and make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.
