The Super Bowl is a distant memory, the Olympics are over, and the snow is melting (tomorrow’s bomb cyclone notwithstanding). Baseball’s back! Down south at least. There’s still another month until games that count, but Topps already has two 2018 releases out the door and we more or less know who will be on the Mets to start the season. As to how the team will do this year… They’ll have some cards, so let’s just see what to expect on that front.
It’s been a while since I updated this, so… How about that wild card race? The second NL wild card spot seems to be about as popular as hosting the Olympics, with teams stumbling over themselves in an apparent effort to avoid being the winner. The Mets made their case by calling up loads of prospects (Matt Reynolds, who finally played in a game, plus Ty Kelly, Brandon Nimmo, and Seth Lugo), picking up James Loney to fill in for Lucas Duda, and, with the trade deadline looming, adding Justin Ruggiano, who was pretty terrible before quickly hitting the DL. As trade deadline mania hit its peak, the Mets seemed to be out on everyone. In the end, they walked away with 2015 trade deadline bridesmaid Jay Bruce, dealing second baseman of the future Dilson Herrera and Max Wotell for yet another corner outfielder. Herrera was clearly never getting a shot with the Mets and Wotell was expendable, so at least the price was right. And Jon Niese came back. For Antonio Bastardo! But he’s terrible now, even in small doses. At least he’s not starting! Yeah, about that…
Shockingly, Jay Bruce failed to turn into Yoenis Cespedes and an injury-plagued Mets team went a month without back-to-back wins, calling on T.J. Rivera, Gabriel Ynoa, and Josh Smoker in the process. The real Yoenis Cespedes, however, came off the DL and once more carried the team back into contention as starts went to Seth Lugo, newly called-up Robert Gsellman, and banished-to-Binghamton Rafael Montero. Justin Ruggiano even joined in on the fun before another DL stint ended his season. Even a start from Jon Niese can’t derail this club now, as they stand within striking distance of the second wild card at the waiver trade deadline. The rosters are set to expand, but even that might not be enough to keep 25 healthy players on the Mets’ active roster for very long.
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| Neil Walker | Asdrubal Cabrera | Alejandro De Aza | Jim Henderson |
| 3 April 2016 | 3 April 2016 | 3 April 2016 | 5 April 2016 |
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| Antonio Bastardo | Rene Rivera | Matt Reynolds* | Ty Kelly* |
| 8 April 2016 | 30 April 2016 | 18 May 2016 | 25 May 2016 |
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| James Loney | Brandon Nimmo* | Seth Lugo* | Justin Ruggiano |
| 31 May 2016 | 26 June 2016 | 1 July 2016 | 30 July 2016 |
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| Jay Bruce | T.J. Rivera* | Gabriel Ynoa* | Josh Smoker* |
| 2 August 2016 | 10 August 2016 | 13 August 2016 | 19 August 2016 |
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| Robert Gsellman* | Fernando Salas | Gavin Cecchini* | |
| 23 August 2016 | 1 September 2016 | 11 September 2016 |
*MLB Debut
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It was a wet and wild night in Manchester as passing storms threatening to delay the start gave way to late-inning walks that threatened to chip away at Binghamton’s commanding lead. Gabriel Ynoa barely made it through six innings before auditions for bullpen September call-ups began. The B-Mets offense, now bolstered by journeymen who began the year in independent league ball, never stopped working and delivered a 9-5 victory that in a far closer game than the final score would seem to indicate.
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