Mets Needed This Hot Start

The Mets are 9-1, off to the best start in their history. If any team needed such a hot start, it was the boys from Flushing.

Going into last season, the Mets were a force with which to be reckoned. They were coming off two straight postseason appearances, including the World Series in 2015. They had one of the best rotations in baseball, if not the best. And then it all came crashing down, a combination of injuries and poor play.

The Mets needed to reestablish themselves as serious contenders. And they weren’t going to do it by starting the season slowly. That’s why a good start was so important. They are now a team opponents will have to take seriously.

Another positive about this is that the Mets are back in the national conversation. It was nice to go to a website like ESPN.com or SI.com in 2015 and 2016 and see Mets articles prominently featured. Finally, our little team was getting recognition. That all ended last season; no one was talking about the Mets because they were not worthy of attention.

But now they are. Everything is working — the starting pitching, the bullpen, timely hitting. New manager Mickey Callaway is pressing all the right buttons. Will it last? Well, the Mets will not play .900 ball the rest of the way, but there’s no reason they can’t play well enough to be sitting atop the National League East when October rolls around.