WASHINGTON, DC – There is still a game to be played on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball between the Mets and Nats this weekend but it is crystal clear that the Mets have sent a crystal clear message here in The Nation’s Capital–2017 is way in the rear view mirror and the Mets have planted that notion in the minds of the Washington Nationals.
If the truth be told, the Nats played a pretty good game on Saturday but the Mets simply outplayed them and illustrated that they have the counter punching ability they lacked last year. By that I mean every time in the first 2 games the Nats scored runs the Mets answered in the very next half inning. That is what winning teams do. The Mets have balance and even in an aspect of game they might be lacking-team speed–they make up for it by running the bases aggressively in an intelligent fashion.
Twice Asdrubal Cabrera took the extra base in this game because he was prepared–once in the first inning when a bobble in the OF gave him the chance to turn a single into 2 bases and then in the seventh inning when he moved from second to third on a grounder to the left side of the infield knowing Ryan Zimmerman’s arm is weak and ineffective.
And the bullpen has been lights out in the early season. Even today when Hansel Robles served up a Bryce Harper homer (on a pretty good pitch I might add) he got out of the inning with no more damage giving the Mets a shot at their comeback. And Jeurys Familia got the 5 out save which is Ok because both Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman are well rested for the series finale on Sunday night. This pen has depth and maybe does not possess the names of some other relief corps but each hurler has talent and a will to get the team the W.
It is still so early in the season but the Mets are planting the seeds for a fun summer–one that could very well surprise the baseball world aside from the people who live inside the Met clubhouse who spent spring training talking the talk. They have followed that up by walking the walk in the season’s first seven games.