The NL East is Being Handed To the Mets

The New York Mets were one of the teams that were supposed to battle for the NL East this year. Battle, it was supposed to be a battle, but right now it’s been by default. The Mets have been fielding a mostly AAA quality lineup including Cameron Maybin who was 0 for his first 26, and that could continue, and yet, they are in first place.

For weeks now, probably longer, the Mets have had double-digit players on the IL, and Jacob deGrom was one of them. Michael Conforto is one of them, and so is Jeff McNeil.

The Phillies have had injury issues as well and nothing has stopped them from going 3-7 in their last 10. Zack Wheeler struck out 14, and they managed to lose.

The Mets had the first game of a Braves series washed out. Was that divine intervention? That game will be made up in July, so the Mets will still be in first place after the Braves series concludes. It’s a mathematical certainty. Is it all in the numbers? Is it luck, or are the Mets pitching responsibly? I think it’s a little bit of everything and it’s something worth watching.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates Are Laughable

There are a lot of reasons to laugh at a baseball moment or baseball team. This play should get the manager fired:

Derek Shelton had to be mad when this play occurred. All Will Craig had to do was step on first. That’s it. Then when the rest ensued, there were a ton of mistakes made.

The Pirates are once again one of the worst teams in baseball. They have a winning percentage under .400. Their run differential is -77. They have no equal in that department. They rank 24th in pitching and batting. They have a few good players, and then they have a lot of guys.

According to Spotrac, the Pirates are ranked 29th overall in payroll. You do get what you pay for in this instance and most of the time in baseball that’s the case. The champion Los Angeles Dodgers are spending over $256 million, and the Pirates are spending roughly $56 million. So far, that’s a difference of 22 wins. That gap will likely grow as the season rolls on.

The Pirates were last in the World Series in 1979 when they won it all. In the last decade, they’ve been to the playoffs three times, and they have one playoff series win.

If you are a Pirates fan, and you close your eyes, you might miss another decade of mediocre baseball. Good drafting and development help a lot but teams do have to spend some money for more than just below average results. Pirates fans deserve better.