The Mets wore hoodies and long sleeves on the field on a chilly, cloudy Wednesday afternoon, unable to contain the Florida weather and bring it north.
But Carlos Mendoza’s group was filled with the same optimism that permeated the Port St. Lucie clubhouse.
The team, which enters this season with far fewer star players and correspondingly lower expectations than in past years, knows those expectations and believes it can exceed them.
“Our expectation is to win. We’re here to win,” Mendoza said after training at Citi Field ahead of Thursday’s season opener against the Brewers, which will be played Friday due to rain in the forecast. . “I’ve said it all along, and outside projections and other things may give you a different view, but I believe we have a really good team. 2024 New York Mets I don’t buy into the fact that expectations are low. Regardless of what happened here last year, this is a very talented team. We’re here to win.”
When the 2023 Mets, who had Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and were expected to make a World Series appearance, disappointed for four months before holding off on a sale at the trade deadline, Mendoza was traded across town to the Yankees. I was there.
Both aces have been plagued by injuries, and rotational changes have proven to be a weakness.
The lineup that was expected to be a force was middling, with Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil in particular not doing well.
The bullpen may have been the club’s worst unit, as the loss of Edwin Diaz loomed the entire season.
“This year is completely different,” opening starter Jose Quintana said. He didn’t make his debut last season until mid-July because of a stress fracture in his ribs. “There’s a lot of talent here. Now is the perfect time to start showing them.”
Quintana is healthy, but the ace will miss at least the first six weeks of the season this year.
Kodai Senga will be sidelined due to shoulder tension, but he has resumed pitching and is able to stretch his arm.
With Tyler Megill filling the rotation spot, Quintana (and possibly Luis Severino) will need to perform like an ace.
David Stearns’ first offseason as Mets president was aimed at improving the team’s defense, but perhaps the presence of Harrison Bader, who pushed Brandon Nimmo into left field, made the important points more than enough. You’re going to have to save.
But the club’s rotation was in question even before Chiga’s injury, and the Mets’ most obvious path to the postseason might be some bounce-back on offense.
McNeil, the 2022 batting champion, saw his average drop by 56 points last year.
Pete Alonso hit .217. Marte has been in turmoil offensively and defensively since offseason groin surgery.
Coach Mendoza is looking at the group with new eyes in his first year in charge and believes the attacking line can once again be a strength.
“If you look at our lineup from top to bottom, we have players that are not only versatile, but can do damage,” Mendoza said of the group that will eventually include J.D. Martinez at DH. Ta. “We can beat you in different ways: when we run the bases, when we put the ball in play, when we hit the ball into the seats.”
The Mets will start this season with less outside belief and more Diaz.
Arguably the best closer in the game, he has fully recovered from a torn patella tendon suffered during the World Baseball Classic and will provide the anchor the Mets desperately lacked last season.
Diaz is happy to be back and thinks the team can surprise.
“I like everything [about this team]” Diaz said. “I like the energy in the clubhouse. I like everything about it. I think we’ve got a really good team. … I think we had a chance to make the playoffs.”
While the postseason was mentioned, no one publicly mentioned the World Series as a goal, which is different from this time last season.
Francisco Lindor admitted that this year there are “not so many big names” and “not many players making so much money.” What are his own expectations?
“Win. Win,” Lindor repeated. “I look forward to that.”
