Game 1 of the 2015 World Series is in the books, and the Mets are on the short end of things. At the time of this writing, they’re down 1-0 and are preparing for Game 2, which will start today, the same day that Game 1’s 14-inning marathon ended. Yikes.
Of course, Game 1 was just one game: the Mets can still come back and win this thing. But if they’re going to do that, they’re going to need more out of some of their important players. Here are the guys that the Mets really need to see step up.
1B Lucas Duda
Good news: Lucas Duda seems to be finding his swing. He was a big part of the Mets’ NLCS Game 4 win, and he was good in Game 1 of the World Series, too. He’d better be. Duda needs a hot streak as badly as the Mets do, because during the time he was ice cold in the NLDS and most of the NLCS, he was a huge hole in the Mets’ lineup. The Mets need the pop that they have come to expect from Duda’s bat. If he keeps making outs instead of driving in runs, there’s no way that the Mets can keep up with Kansas City’s relentless offense.
SS Wilmer Flores
Wilmer Flores should not be starting at shortstop against the Kansas City Royals. Flores spent some time at short earlier this year because the Mets’ regular shortstop, Ruben Tejada, was hitting poorly. But Flores’ own problems are in the field, and when he stopped hitting well, the Mets returned to Tejada in order to get better defense at the position.
You know the rest of the story: the Dodgers’ Chase Utley broke Tejada’s leg on a dirty play, and the Mets were forced to turn back to Flores. It’s a potential storybook moment (Mets fans will remember that Flores was part of a botched trade that left him crying on the field but, ultimately, still a Met), but it’s also a dangerous one: the Kansas City Royals put the ball in play constantly with their contact-hitting lineup, forcing defenses to reckon with tricky plays. Flores is not well suited to start in the field against a contact-hitting team, and the Mets will need him to play out of his mind of defense if they’re going to survive.
SP Noah Syndergaard
The Mets have two elite aces: Matt Harvey and Jacob DeGrom. Noah Syndergaard (alias “Thor”) is an ace-in-training, but he’s not quite the caliber of the Mets’ top two guys. This series, he needs to do his very best DeGrom impression. That’s because Syndergaard starts two crucial games: Game 3 (the Mets’ first home game of the series) and Game 7 (the winner-take-all game, if necessary). No matter where the series stands when Game 3 rolls around, a big performance from Syndergaard is sure to take a huge amount of pressure off of the Mets – and should Game 7 arrive, Syndergaard’s performance in that game will be the most crucial thing in this entire World Series.
3B David Wright
David Wright is the longest-tenured player in the New York Mets. He’s waited his whole career for this moment. And in Game 1, he committed an error on a throw and helped undo the Mets.
That’s embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as Wright’s hitting has been. Wright is batting worse than .200 this postseason. He’s drawn walks pretty well, but he hasn’t done much else. If the Mets are going to win the World Series, they need Captain America to start playing like the team’s captain.
