New York Mets heading to a post-first half of the season collapse – MLB Feature
The usage of the word collapse becomes common when the second half of the Major League Baseball season starts. The sweeping changes such as the players being traded and the managers getting ousted characterise it.
The teams that fancied the crown at the start prepare to compromise with the unwanted reality. Those that were too pessimistic pack their bags home with the encouragement that at-least they fought their way, however in vain.
It appears the New York Mets are going to fall in the latter category. They staggered into the season under the clouds of financial crisis with some of their most dependable players injured. Even the fans were humble in their judgment about their team.
So were the experts. Some of them even went on to write the Mets off beforehand.
The statements that were coming off from the club back then masked a hopelessness that prevailed across the organisation in general.
However when New York kicked off the proceedings, something unexpected happened. Quelling the impression of being a weak team, they clinched stunning victories, making it conspicuous to the opponents that they cannot be taken for granted.
Then, gradually things began heading toward a decline. The point which had to differentiate the pure from the impure came. Or we should say the stage reached when nature could no longer afford freebies to them. After all, it cannot do it at the expense of
others.
Toward the end of the first half, the fact that New York was a weaker team started to be realised. The reality that their rotation does not possess pitchers that can sustain its initial success throughout the season dawned. The mirage of consistency that
the initial fireworks by their offence caused escaped the imagination.
Thus, it had become clear by then that it is going to take something out of the ordinary to happen in the second half to help them experience the rampage again like they did at the beginning.
Unfortunately, if the first two series after the break are anything to go by, it will not happen. They seem to have depleted now. Their power to stand up and challenge opponents has seemingly been exhausted.
The injuries are taking a heavy toll on their performance, with their starting pitcher Dillon Gee languishing on a season-ending disabled list.
Similarly, despite the fact that Jason Bay and Lucas Duda have joined the line-up, it will be of no avail as the downward spiral has started now.
Whatever number of hits David Wright is going to produce is bound to be rendered insignificant by their feeble starters. Other than R.A. Dickey, the rest of the crew has largely given in. The pitcher Johan Santana who was supposed to be their linchpin has
given clear indications that he is going to grow only worse as the days pass. His performance in the last game speaks volumes of what has been said in the preceding line.
Thus, if one puts a gun on my head and asks me where the Mets are heading to, I will say most likely collapse, the very word the teams hate to hear in the second half of the season. This inference is not drawn entirely from their last two series. The ground
realities second this.
At-best, the Mets can plan for the future now. However before they do this, they must bear one lesson in mind:
Only difference between a team that ascends glories and the one that appeases fans with an illusion of a crown for some time and then peters out is consistency in dominance.
One will hope that the Mets prove to be falling in the former category next season.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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