Huge Mets fans here going back to the mid-1960s. AA sure didn't think that one through when he dealt d'Arnaud and Syndergaard for Dickey, who had the one great season when the stars aligned playing in a pitchers paradise (Citi Field) in the National League. d'Arnaud still goes fishing for pitches outside the zone, but has incredible bat speed and his power numbers will only get better. What is often overlooked is how great he handles this young pitching staff and his defence has improved dramatically since the start of 2014.
Noah, Harvey and de Grom have been terrific, but watch this kid Steven Matz in Game 4. Young lefty, throws 95, nice off-speed stuff and can really handle the bat. It's important to have that lefty starter in there with all the tough lefthanded hitters the Royals have. The one thing the Mets have that the Blue Jays didn't is some real good lefthanded power bats in Murphy, Duda, Granderson and Conforto to match up against a predominately right-handed Royals pitching staff. And Cespedes is a righty power bat that actually hits right-handed pitching a lot better.
3 areas that worry me is the edge KC has in the bullpen, defence and team speed, not to mention the experience of playing in the World Series a year ago.
The Mets made it look embarrassingly easy against the Cubbies, but the Royals are a whole different kettle of fish. Mets starters will need to continue to pitch deep into games for NYM to have a legit chance. In a perfect world, we split the first 2 games and then win the next 3 in New York where the Royals pitchers will have to hit and DH Kendrys Morales will be reduced to pinch hitting duties. But it rarely unfolds like you hope or expect.
Looking for a 6 or 7 game series and just hoping the Amazins' can pull this out of the fire and end a 29 year drought between World Series wins. Should be a lot of fun, though it would have been even more fun had the Blue Jays made it.
