As we move around in our daily lives, we are all noticing Mets fans coming out of the woodworks. Just the other day I was wearing a Mets shirt I’ve worn a hundred times, and was startled when multiple people yelled to me from the street in comradery. Right now, it’s not just great to be a Mets fan, it’s simply amazing.
To be 5 games up on the Nationals going into play on Saturday, was not only something we all would have signed up for at the beginning of the season, it was inconceivable. The Mets are officially a year ahead of schedule, as most did not expect them to compete for a divisional crown until 2016.
Going into the season, the Mets were pegged to be little more than a .500 team, and that was before David Wright went down with injury. Terry Collins has done a formidable job (despite some head scratching in-game moves) of keeping this team afloat until Sandy Alderson could plug some leaks at the trading deadline.
Being 5 games up on August 22nd no longer means we can just be satisfied with a .500 season. No, now the expectations are higher, and the Mets need to take care of business the rest of the way to win the NL East. Everything that has happened so far this season suggests that the Mets will continue to feast on the league’s bottom feeders and the Nationals will continue to struggle against them.
At the same time, the Mets should not take the Nationals for granted. We’ve seen them get hot before and it doesn’t take long for a lead to evaporate. Skipping Matt Harvey in Colorado is a smart move – pitching there does no one any favors. However, if the race starts to tighten up, skipping starts should no longer be an option, especially if and when Steven Matz returns. After all, there is still no data that supports that inning limits are necessary. Shouldn’t the real measure be pitch count, if anything?
People often bring up the Nationals’ arrogance in shutting down Stephen Strasburg in 2012 and they should. The Mets wisely won’t be shutting down their young guns this season. Because of that, we can’t blame them for skipping a Harvey or Syndergaard start here or there. But if this becomes a tight race again, I want to see the big guns out there every 5th or 6th day, innings limit be damned.
