By Joe McDonald
Yes! The reinforcements are here!
After a couple of weeks where the Mets led the league in players on the injured list, the Amazin’s got a few of their key players back.
First Baseman Pete Alonso, Reliever Seth Lugo and Outfielder Kevin Pillar came off the shelf and immediately started to contribute.
Alonso is obviously the big one. The 2019 Rookie of the Year, immediately contributed in the Mets win on Monday. Driving in four runs with a single and a home run.
“I just felt like myself,” Alonso said. “It felt good to go on [the IL], to get my hand right and to join the party again. It was real fun today.”
Real fun indeed. The funny thing is the Mets have been winning even without their key players and sit nicely on top of the National League East.
And you see, winning will always cure the injury woes and the Mets seem to have stayed healthy in the most important section of the team.
The bullpen.
Unlike past years, where you winced when the starter left with the lead and prayed the bullpen could hold it, now the ‘pen seems to be the strength of this team.
They are not going to be perfect – see last night’s game – but they have generally been solid with a lineup of Miguel Castro, Jeurys Familia, Trevor May and Edwin Diaz. The Mets seem to have a solid core.
And that doesn’t include Lugo, who has been the Mets best and most reliable reliever over the past few seasons.
“Let me jump on board here,” Lugo said on Monday. “Let’s figure out what’s going on, because I definitely want to be a piece of that.”
Believe it or not, the Mets are going to need the bullpen to stay fresh over the next few months. Unlike most of the teams in baseball, the Amazin’s have played less than 50 games. That’s because of rainouts and COVID cancellations.
That means there will be a number of doubleheaders coming up in June and July. The good news – or bad for us purists – is that those games will be 7-innings each, and not as taxing on the bullpen.
Of course you can never have too many fresh arms out there.
Enter Lugo.
And enter Pillar, who gets the award for toughest Met. Ten days after the getting hit squarely in the nose and being told he will be back four to six weeks, Pillar convinced manager Luis Rojas to put him out there.
“The thing that really stands out is Kevin Pillar, the dude is just a warrior,” Alonso said. “His attitude and how he approaches the game is just really special.
“Tonight was a really cool night and I am happy for Kevin and to be able to dig in there and get that knock and get that monkey off his shoulder, he’s got stones and he’s got a really tough, gritty attitude.”
And that’s what winning teams have.
Depth, toughness and strong pitching.
It’s what the Mets got back this week and why they are in first place.