Yes, the Mets are a much better team and I've said as much several times. The Braves are, too, though, and we are getting bit by the injury bug again, especially in the pitching ranks. It is very obvious, to me at least, that we need better pitching to compete with the best teams in the league. If Max, Jake and Tylor all come back aces, that's great; but that is very much an open question right now imo, and I am concerned about Lugo's dropoff.
There's a reason I call us the Boys of Spring. It's called history. And now that the calendar has turned to summer, things are getting tighter again. You remained Pollyanna throughout it all last season (and the season before, and before that...) and we see how that turned out, with the Mets staying pat and the Braves making moves that made a difference.
It's not doom and gloom; it's asking questions. Buck is a huge difference, as is Eppler; and so is Max. And Marte and Canha, too. But we went from up 10.5 to 4.5 now in a few weeks, with an off day today and a tough match-up on Friday. Hopefully the Giants and Dodgers will hang some Ls on the Braves to give us some more cushion.
Always down on deGrom?!? Thankfully there is a record here to put the lie to that ridiculous notion. Until last season I've been his biggest fan, but he hasn't pitched in almost a year now and I never bought the various excuses they made last season when they claimed that a half dozen or more consecutive injuries were unrelated. I said then, and still believe, that Ron Darling's analysis made more sense; i.e., they were all related and resulted from overcompensating in an attempt to protect other body parts. I have no idea what to expect from him at this point, but I think your expectation that he returns to form as one of the top pitchers in the game this season is unrealistic. We will see.
I'm interested to see the moves they make and whether they are difference-makers. I would hope that we learned something from last season's experience.
