New York Mets Depth Showcased with Excellent May

The injury riddled New York Mets closed May on a high note last night. They defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2. They welcomed back some much needed reinforcements to the lineup last night. Pete Alonso was reinstated from the injured list and collected 2-hits including a mammoth home run for his seventh of the season. They also welcomed back Seth Lugo who has not seen game action with the big league club yet this season. He was dealing with some injuries that started in spring training. The Mets also welcomed back Kevin Pillar. Pillar was sidelined for not even two weeks after getting hit in the face with a fastball. He singled in his first plate appearance.

The New York Mets were down a lot of key players for a lot of May. They were without Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, JD Davis, Pete Alonso, Jacob DeGrom, and more for varying levels of time. However, the bench mob rose to the occasion and propelled the Mets to a 17-9 May.

Jonathan Villar

One of the best signings the Mets have made in a long time is Jonathan Villar. Villar was the perfect combination of veteran presence and everyday impact this Mets team needed. When J.D. Davis went down with an injury, Villar slid right into the everyday 3B position. He has played it excellently showcasing just how good of a defender he is. Villar has been a key reason why the Mets defense has skyrocketed up the rankings compared to last season. He almost never let’s a ball get by him and makes the hard plays look easy. He has been no slouch with the bat as well. Villar is 5 for his last 12 and 3 out of 4 homeruns giving the Mets lead late in the game.

Edwin Diaz

Edwin Diaz will forever be known as the guy the Mets got for Jarred Kelenic. The trade looked like an absolute disaster for all of 2019 and a lot of 2020. Luis Rojas even pulled him from the closer role last season. However, this year he has looked absolutely dominant. This is the Edwin Diaz the Mets thought they were getting a couple of years ago. Diaz has been perfect so far this season in save opportunities. He has an electric fastball and a devastating slider that has baffled hitters all season. He batting average against is .214 and his hard-hit percentage is at 27%, the lowest of his career so far. In his dominant 2018 season where he had 57 saves, his hard hit percentage was 37%. He is generating a lot of swings and misses and soft contact.

Jacob DeGrom

What else is there to say about Jacob DeGrom. He is an absolute machine. Currently, he has a 0.71 ERA, the lowest ERA through May since 1964. He has an absurd .129 batting average against and a 45.8% strikeout rate. In addition, he has a 3.9% walk rate. The man is simply not walking people. Also, he is raking with the bat this season. DeGrom is hitting .450 with three runs batted in and 4 runs scored. That means that he has the same amount of runs created and runs allowed. He is the clear front runner for Cy Young and can certainly make the case for MVP.

Final Thoughts

The New York Mets are 26-20 and sit 3.5 games ahead in first place. That is without consistent contributions from many of their key contributors. Francisco Lindor has been wildly inconsistent this season. The same goes for Michael Conforto and Jeff McNeil. Despite all of this, they are sitting comfortably in first place and really looking like the team to beat in the National League East.