The new pope may or may not be a Chicago Cubs fan, which could make for some unfortunate circumstances for the Mets this weekend with the Cubs coming to Citi Field for a three-game set. There is already a belief in New York that God hates the Mets, so maybe we’ll have an answer as to whether or not that’s the case by Sunday night.
At 22-16, the Cubs come into the series atop the NL East standings with the third-best record in the NL. They’re expected to call up their top pitching prospect Cade Horton to start Saturday since Shota Imanaga landed on the injured list with a hamstring strain. The Cubs were debating using former Mets starter Chris Flexen, who is currently pitching out of the bullpen in Chicago, but the right-hander was used twice this week against the San Francisco Giants, eliminating that possibility.
But it’s another former Met lighting up the Second City, Pete Crow-Armstrong. The 23-year-old outfielder, who was drafted by the Mets in the first round in 2020, is hitting .265 with nine home runs in what could be a breakout campaign. He poses a threat on the basepaths with his speed, having stolen 12 bases and been caught only twice. Statcast ranks him as the 16th fastest player in baseball, covering 29.4 feet per second.
He’s also made dynamic catches in center field and rates as one of the best center fielders with a strong arm, a ton of range and excellent route-running.
While Crow-Armstrong shows no signs of slowing down, his underlying numbers at the plate do suggest that a moderate regression could be coming. He chases a lot of pitches, especially breaking balls. A 44% chase rate is one of the worst among all qualified hitters. This leads to weak contact and strikeouts. The league will adjust to him and he’ll have to adjust as well.
Technically, Crow-Armstrong never had the chance to become a Met since the Mets sent him to the Cubs in a trade for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams in 2021. It was a controversial trade at the time since Crow-Armstrong had barely spent any time in the Mets system and was injured at the time of the trade deadline.
The Mets quickly fell out of contention for the postseason and Baez was not re-signed. Williams proved useful as a long-reliever/spot-starter in 2022, making the trade somewhat worthwhile, but the trade remained a sore subject for a few years.
Former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen and his successor, Zack Scott, traded away a handful of first- and second-round picks during their tenures, and then there was the Kumar Rocker debacle. It all left the Mets’ system devoid of high-end talent anywhere other than the infield.
But it’s safe to say the Mets have since recovered, currently sitting at the top of their own divisional standings with a 24-14 record.
Tyrone Taylor is playing outstanding center field defense and he’s been hitting more as of late as well. Taylor might not hit for a lot of power, but he runs the bases as well as he cuts down runners, allowing him to turn singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He has an OPS of 1.198 over his last 10 games with two doubles, a triple, a home run, three RBI and a stolen base.
Between Taylor, Luisangel Acuña and Jeff McNeil, the bottom of the Mets’ order is putting a ton of pressure on opposing hitters. They’re extending innings and making it tough for them to throw their best stuff to the three heavy hitters at the top of the order, Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso.
And speaking of Soto, he’s looking more like the Soto we’ve come to know. The slugger has hit four home runs over the last week and two Wednesday to help the Mets earn a key NL series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Soto has hit .286 with a .977 OPS over his last 15 games, walking 12 times and striking out only nine.
With another key NL matchup on tap this weekend, the Mets will need all of the firepower. Maybe it’s time to reintroduce their own pope: Grimace.
