The Mets have reached the second half of the season at 41-50, fourth place in the NL East and not exactly in contention for the 2nd NL Wild Card spot.
With that said, I don't think doing any MLB Betting on the idea that the Mets will make the playoffs this year would be a wise decision.
The Mets have played better recently, going 17-11 in their past 28 games, and if you look closely you might be able to see some specs of light at the end of the tunnel for this franchise.
With Baseball still being awesome, no matter how poorly the Mets play, we are still going to watch the games in the second half and see what they can do.
With that in mind I wanted to give you all three things to watch during the second half as the Mets will attempt to finally end a season on a good note.
1. How Zack Wheeler continues to grow as a Major League Pitcher
Zack Wheeler came up a month ago and has gone through the normal growing pains that a young pitcher goes through. I know you might not remember, but even Matt Harvey had some bumps in the road before he morphed into the next great Mets pitcher.
Wheeler has shown flashes of brilliance on the road against Atlanta and San Francisco. He has also struggled in his other starts against Washington, Chicago (AL) and Milwaukee. If he can command his fastball and work with his off-speed stuff to keep hitters on their toes, he can have more good than bad starts.
The future is bright for the Mets pitching staff. It is good enough that any betting MLB World Series games on the Mets in the future would probably be a good investment.
2. Will anyone with a future on the Mets, besides David Wright, step up offensively
Marlon Byrd has been fantastic for the Mets this season but we all know he is not apart of the future for this franchise. So what about the guys we have now that are younger that could be here for the long term.
Well Ike Davis looks completely lost again. Lucas Duda stinks with runners in scoring position and is hurt. We dont know what we have Travis d'Arnaud because he has been out most of the season. Ruben Tejada has been a disaster and Daniel Murphy is Daniel Murphy.
The Mets dont have much when it comes to position players in the minor leagues that can come up this year and help out. At least it seems that way. This is why you hear so much about trades or spending money in free agency to bring in offense for this team to help David Wright.
For the team to move forward, one or two of the players currently here must show that they belong here for the long term. This next 70 games or so will give them a chance to prove it.
3. Can they finish the season strong for the first time in forever
This team under Terry Collins has been known for strong starts and horrific finishes. This year seems to have been a little bit of the opposite so far. A weak start, they were 15 games under .500 at one point this season, before the 17-11 stretch mentioned above helped them end the first half on a high note.
One of the amazing things about the Mets is the fact that under Collins they are one game over .500 on the road in the three years he has been here but 32 games under .500 at home.
If the Mets can get themselves righted at home and continue to play well on the road, then they have a shot to end the season on a high note.
This season isn't really about wins and losses. It was about the development of the young players and seeing where the rebuilding process was when the Mets were to supposedly have money to spend.
If the players show that development, then they will win more games and end the season strong. That would be a triple play that will have Mets fans happy heading into the biggest off-season for the franchise since 04/05.
