A Focus on Today Has Mets Defying Odds
Don't worry about next week or next month; just win, baby...
As this oddly encapsulating stretch of fun/crazy/scary baseball pushes on, these Metropolitans have not ceased to amaze.
Ronald Acuna Jr.’s walk-off clobber-job on Wednesday could have burst this little bubble quite easily. Go ahead, you can admit you thought the miracle was over. I won’t tell.
Garrett Cooper’s game-tying home run in the seventh off Miguel Castro on Friday night surely induced a chorus of “same old Mets,” audible throughout the tri-state area.
Some of us don’t get truly fired up until we’ve been put on our ass. That’s what’s happening in Queens.
This team had their hands at their sides and absorbed a right cross to the chin early on. Now, right on cue, they’re fighting back.
It makes no difference if virtually their entire starting lineup is on the shelf. This group has taken the next-man-up mindset and given it life.
“I think this group of guys know what we’re capable of over the course of the season,” Marcus Stroman said after the game. “There’s gonna be adversity throughout the year so you have to do your best to battle that and to win.”
“No one’s gonna feel sorry for us, regardless of the injuries. So we’ve gotta battle until we get those guys back and, hopefully, when they get back we roll after that.”
So far, this team is battling and *checks notes* rolling.
A 12-6 record in May despite placing nine players on the injured list this month (16 total this season) has the Mets two-and-a-half games up in the National League East and absolutely feeling the magic of group consciousness.
A focus on today, as opposed to looking ahead to the next four-plus months, has been prevalent. It’s probably the only way to go about this level of challenge.
Outside of Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith, the Mets’ daily lineup is currently a hodge-podge of contingency plans. And, wouldn’t you know it, they’re actually pulling it off.
Taking two-of-three in Atlanta while finding their legs after losing Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil. A hard-fought opening night victory in Miami on an even emptier tank than they left Tampa with last weekend.
Everything about this turn of events absolutely screams “team for the ages”. We’ll have to see how it all shakes out, but the foundation is being laid for a fantastic story to be told.
Never in their wildest dreams did Sandy Alderson and Zack Scott imagine they’d be leaning on the likes of Jonathan Villar, Jose Peraza, Wilfredo Tovar, Johneshwy Fargas, Brandon Drury, Cameron Maybin, Khalil Lee, and Jake Hager to scratch out divisional wins in May.
Yet, here we are. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s got me fired up. I said it on Friday afternoon when Pete Alonso was placed on the IL with a right-hand sprain; this is the stuff of legend.
Mets manager Luis Rojas spoke a bit after the game about this team’s guile and grit in the face of extreme misfortune over the last week while also keeping things in perspective.
“They’re all big [wins]. Right now it’s as emotional as it gets because of all the things we had to do to earn this win, and then you gotta turn the page,” he said. “You gotta turn the page and focus on tomorrow’s game. That’s the biggest [game] right now.”
“I’m proud of the guys. They’re grinding it. These guys are brave, man. They’re courageous,” Rojas said. “I couldn’t be more proud.”
It’s easy to get carried away. I get it. This is inspiring stuff. Makings of a true Flushing miracle, if we’re being honest.
And the mirage factor of this run can’t be ignored, either. Expecting this level of production from this current roster would be foolish.
But if they can, at the very least, stay above water until the cavalry returns healthy, there’s not going to be a lot that will intimidate this group moving forward.
If they can make this nightmare work, they can accomplish anything. Bold statement, I know. Heave dose of hyperbole, to boot. But I believe it. It appears everyone in that clubhouse is buying into that sentiment, too.
Onward and upward. LFGM.
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