Sports Illustrated picks Mets to repeat as NL East champions – NJ.com
Sports Illustrated has been showing the Mets a lot of love recently.
In addition to featuring Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Jeurys Familia on one of its covers of its annual baseball issue, the magazine also predicted the Mets will be the team to beat in the National League East for the second consecutive season.
Writes SI:
The Mets waltz into 2016 with the highest upside of any team in baseball. Their path to a championship is clear: Get the lion’s share of their starts from the group of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler. If those five pitchers stay healthy—or in Wheeler’s case, return from Tommy John surgery healthy—the Mets should allow the fewest runs in MLB and be well on their way to greatness.
This week’s cover (1/4): Repeat after us… The @Mets will celebrate another NL East title https://t.co/Xs8SDFc8zB pic.twitter.com/MsVxx3nTyn
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 22, 2016
When it comes to ranking the Mets’ starters in terms of stuff, one rival scout told SI that the order would be as follows: DeGrom, Harvey, Syndergaard and Matz.
The scout also had general praise for many of the Mets’ position players:
Travis d’Arnaud continues to mature as a catcher, game handler and offensive presence. He understands what his guys bring and how to work hitters. . . . If Lucas Duda stays healthy, he’s a very dangerous power guy and will produce runs in the middle of the order. . . . Neil Walker is like Daniel Murphy, although I think he is an upgrade defensively, a bit steadier.
With their collective talent, the Mets will open the season as the second-best team in the league, according to SI.
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