New York Mets: Looking back on 2018 season

For a team that started the season 11-1, things really didn’t stay hot for the New York Mets during the full season. As a die hard Mets fan it was a surreal sight, seeing the team kick off the campaign on such a hot streak, and seemingly too normal to see them collapse two months into the season.

Much like so many years before this one, the Mets would get hit with the injury bug starting with Travis D’Arnaud going down with a torn UCL ligament which means Tommy John Surgery; first thing I thought is that injury can’t be common for players and it wasn’t, but that’s the Mets. From there, names like Steven Matz, Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Lagares, Kevin Plawecki, Wilmer Flores, and others spent time on the disabled list as well, things, didn’t look good for the Mets. Things got especially interesting when both Plawecki and D’Arnaud ended up on the disabled list at the same time, taking both of the teams catchers away within weeks.

Adding to the injuries was under performing players like Jason Vargas, Anthony Swarzak, Jay Bruce, and Adrian Gonzalez who coincidentally were all the free agents the team signed the prior off-season.

Heading into the month of April the Mets held a 17-10 record with a slim lead on the Atlanta Braves, but most fans were excited to see their team in the front of the division. However, by the halfway point of the month, the Mets had fallen to fourth place and were only two games above .500 and most fans optimism had faded.

Fast forward to July 1 and the Mets were fourteen and half games out of first place, carrying a record of 33-48. At this point most everyone knew the Mets would become sellers come the trading deadline. For once, the team actually did sell and dealt off Jeurys Familia, Jose Bautista, and Asdrubal Cabrera; though that might not seem like much it was at least something.

The 2018 season wasn’t all bad as it did end on positive note and even though a lot of people might not understand what I mean those are the ones that don’t know what it’s like to have Captain. For the last few years David Wright has been plagued by injuries to his back and neck that have kept him off the diamond. Prior to 2018 the Mets captain had not appeared in a Major League game since the 2016 season and most fans assumed that his playing career was over. However, one of the more interesting stories for me to follow this season was to see if David could make it back, and though it took the entire season, he did get to wear orange and blue one more time. Seeing David on the field again, with Jose Reyes non the less, was a surreal moment and one of the only positive things about the 2018 Mets season.

Overall, now it seems the Mets are ready for a new era with David Wright no longer a question and with a new General Manager, the team is ready to move forward. The only question is where do they go first and can they still be competitive in the National League East?

In my opinion, this would be the perfect time for the Mets to stay competitive, because every team in the division is in a period of uncertainty, especially the Washington Nationals with the likelihood of Bryce Harper going elsewhere. Now, I know that some might think that I only believe the Mets can be competitive, because I am fan of the team and that is sorta true and sorta not. I think that the Mets have the pieces to be a winning team and giving up on those pieces right now would be a terrible decision as the team is only a few players away from making a run. As for the Noah Syndergaard question, that would need it’s own article, but in short if you get the value do it, if not, keep him.