Things Heating Up In Queens

Who would have thought, a little over a month ago, that the New York Mets would be doing what they're doing. It's so close you can almost taste it. When we hit the All Star Break, the Mets looked dead in the water for a playoff spot. Now here we sit, the Mets are just a game back of the final Wild Card Spot, with a little less than two months to go in the regular season. Could it be possible? Can the Mets pull it off and make the Playoffs?

If the past two plus weeks are any indication, it is a distinct possibility. In the 2nd half of the season, the Mets have already had three winning streaks, a four game stretch (July 13-17), a seven game streak (July 25th-August 1st) and are now riding a six game winning streak after today's victory over the Marlins. And they been doing it against teams that, in reality, they should be beating. The big surprise was a pair of wins over the AL Central leading Twins in Minnesota in the middle of July. What's been behind the turnaround for the Mets in the second half?

They've been getting plenty of contributions. One downside, I hate to bring it up, is Pete Alonso, who's been struggling at the plate in the 2nd half. Alonso is hitting just .189 since the all-star break. Yes he does have seven dingers and 15 RBI, but I've been saying this for a while now, the home run derby I feel threw him off. He's been fighting the ball since the break instead of just letting the game come to him. Then there's the case of Robinson Cano, who a part of me feels bad for. Since the Break, Cano was hitting .289 with six homers and 14 driven in and with the way he was swinging the bat, it looked like Mets fans were finally getting the Cano that had earned that large contract. Then he got hurt, tearing his hamstring, that's causing him to miss six weeks. Cano and Alsonso's play as of late proves why the eye test in baseball can tell so much more than just reading the box score.

With Cano out and Alonso starting to slump, other guys are starting to step their play up at the right time. Both JD Davis and Amed Rosario have been hitting the cover off the ball since the break, both hitting well over .300. Rosario has smacked 32 hits since the break, the most on the Mets in that time frame. Then you have Michael Conforto, who's been coming along with the power stroke. He's smacked nine dinngers and driven in twenty since the break.

It's not just the hitting keeping New York in the race, the pitching staff has found its footing. New York has the lowest pen ERA at 2.75 since the break. And to help the cause even more is the fact that the starters are showing what we Mets fans have known all along, just how good they really are. Jake has won three of his five starts and has an ERA just above one, looking like he did last year when he won his Cy Young Award. Noah, who had been thrown out there in trade rumors, has come around in his last couple starts. going 2-1 with a 1.78 ERA and looking like the guy the Mets first traded for. Sure, Edwin Diaz has had his struggles, he's had that problem most of the year. Seth Lugo is starting to emerge as a guy who could help take some of that pressure off Diaz in close games late.

Now is really the test of the schedule for the Mets. They have three this weekend with the Nats at home before going to Atlanta for three. That road trip continues with three in Kansas City, which in theory should be easier. Then they return home to Play Cleveland, Atlanta and the Cubs heading into Labor Day Weekend.

The next couple of weeks will be a real big test for the Mets and they are going to need a little help to be able to make the playoffs/ But if the last two weeks have been any indication, this is going to be a lot of fun going down the stretch.