Can These Shreveporters Lead the Mets to a Pennant Win?
October is here, which means the chase for the World Series is about to begin. According to Vegas Insider, here are the current favorites to win it all: The Dodgers at +350, Astros at +450, Braves at +500, Yankees at +550 & the Mets at +950. According to the latest odds, the most surprising betting odds are on the Mets. Because at one point this season, the Mets had the 3rd highest odds to win - just behind the Dodgers & Yankees. However, due to some late season struggles and a surging Braves team, the Mets from looking at a first round playoff bye to having to play a 3 game series with San Diego in the Wild Card round. So, their journey to win the pennant got significantly more difficult.
The Only 2 Local Guys in MLB Play for the Mets
Why am I writing an article about and in support of the Mets right now? I have three reasons: 1) My team has been eliminated from contention. 2) The only two major leaguers from Shreveport-Bossier happen to play for the Mets, so that's who I'm rooting for. 3) Buck Showalter is my favorite manager currently in the game and I want him to finally win the 'big one'.
Plus, on top of all that Citi Field is always ELECTRIC and any home game there is bound to be a fun one.
Can our local 'Shreveport guys' Help the Mets Win?
When it comes to the 2022 Mets, there's certain names that just pop out at you - Pete Alonzo, Max Scherzer, Jacob DeGrom and Francisco Lindor...just to name a few. But to win the Championship and survive a grueling playoff schedule, the Mets are gonna need other guys to step up big. And that's where Seth Lugo & Taijuan Walker, our local guys, come in.
The Mets have a lot of fire power on offense and the top of their pitching rotation is strong, but their going to need their other starters and the bullpen to come up big if they want to win. Relying only on Scherzer & DeGrom only will get the Mets eliminated quickly.
Luckily for the Mets, Shreveport native Taijuan Walker is coming off a season that is arguably the best of his career. He posted 12 wins (a career high), 5 losses and a very respectable 3.49 ERA. So, if he can do in the post season what he did in the regular season, the Mets pitching rotation is going to be in pretty good shape.
That brings us to Bossier native and Centenary Grad Seth Lugo. He might be the most important piece to Mets' success. When he has his best stuff and is on, he is virtually untouchable. Case and point, earlier this year in a critical series, he absolutely shut down Aaron Judge an the heart of the Yankees line up. However, not every outing has been that good. In 62 games (a career high for him), he posted a 3-2 record, 3.60 ERA (which is solid) and 3 saves.
So, while not a career year, Lugo had a lot of good outings coming out of the Mets bullpen. And it will be critical that he has his best stuff coming out the bullpen in the post season. During the playoffs, starting rotations get shortened. Outings get shortened to save starting arms. And games generally become bullpen games earlier than they do in the regular season, especially in games where the studs aren't on the mound. So, relief guys like Seth need to have good stuff and be able to carry some extra weight.
Can the Mets REALLY win the World Series in 2022?
If you asked me this question 2 months ago, the answer would 100% be yes. However, since they lost the NL East race to the Braves, their quest for gold is going to be a difficult one. Friday, they kick off their Wild Card series with the Padres. If they win that series, then they head off to Los Angeles to face the Dodgers - who are coming off a historically good year.
However, there is hope. The Mets & Dodgers went head to head 6 times this season. And, despite the historically good season the Dodgers had, the Mets actually won 4 out of 6 games. If you make it past the Dodgers, it doesn't get that much easier because the other bracket features the power house Braves & Cardinals.
Can they do it? Absolutely. They have the talent. They have a top notch manager. They just have to go out and play quality baseball against some really tough competition. Talent isn't the question here. It's can they survive a long playoff run against the stiffest competition in the game. If they have the fortitude, they could be lifting the Commissioner's Trophy in a few short weeks.