The New York Mets have turned a few head this season thanke to a No-Hitter from Santana and the Knuckleball antics of RA Dickey. What are odds makers predicting for the second half of the season for the NY Mets?
The New York Mets have to be very proud of their performance in the first half of the 2012 MLB season, as they head into the All Star Break with a 46-40 record, just 4 1/2 games behind the division leading Washington Nationals, and just 1/2 game behind a cluster of teams for the NL wild card berth.
MLB betting odds currently have the Mets as +4500 to win the World Series and +1600 to win the National League.
The National League Pennant is up for grabs, and one can't rule out the blue collar play of the Metropolitans and their leader David Wright.
National League MVP and Comeback Player of the Year CandidateThe New York Mets had very high expectations of David Wright in being the face of the franchise. Wright has pretty much lived up to those expectations this past decade until the new CitiField came along. The dimensions were a little extreme, much to Wright's dismay. A ball that would be hit to the warning track at CitiField would easily be a home run at Yankee Stadium.
As Wright played at CitiField, his stats, production, and confidence gradually decreased. He was a doubles hitter at best, and now the Mets have decided to move the fences in. David Wright may never be a 35 to 40 home run hitter, but in the 1st half of the season he's hitting a very healthy .351 with 11 HR, 59 RBI and 9 SB. Most of Wright's hits have been clutch, and the Mets wouldn't be where they're at without him.
Wright was named to the All Star team as a reserve. Does Pablo Sandoval deserve to start above Wright? Absolutely not, but it's still an honor for Wright.
R.A. Dickey37 year old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey has also played a huge part in the Mets success this year. Dickey has been the best pitcher in baseball, as his unorthodox
knuckleball is almost impossible to hit.
On the season, Dickey is a near perfect 12-1 with a 2.40 ERA and 123 strikeouts. Dickey has also pitched back to back one hit games, and also set the Mets record for consecutive scoreless innings at 32 2/3 innings. The guy has been perfect and was
elected as the starter for the National League All Star Game. As a knuckle ball pitcher, Dickey can pitch for another decade and is likely to go down in baseball history as one of the true greats.
Johan Santana pitches a No-Hitter!!!!
The monkey is off the Mets back after 51 years, as
Santana finally earned the team it’s 1st no hitter. I watched this game, and it was a struggle for manager Terry Collins to keep Santana in there as his pitch count was sky high. Santana is an injury prone player, but Collins had no choice but to leave Johan Santana in there and create history, as he pitched his way into the history books on June 1st against the St. Louis Cardinals, winning 8-0. It wasn't pretty as Santana gave up 5 walks but he got the job done. Santana is known for not getting run support but on this day, he got what both he and the Mets needed.
Ike and DudaThey're not your most conventional names, but sluggers Lucas Duda and Ike Davis have been the power for the Mets this season. Davis was very close to going down to the minors, but he has been on fire for the last month. Duda, on the other hand, has been consistent throughout the entire season thus far. The batting average has dropped lately, but Duda is hitting .249 with 12 HR and 44 RBI. Look for both of these players to have strong 2nd halves, as the Mets look to make a run at the pennant.
The Future
The future looks very bright for this club, and we could see the Mets becoming a serious contender in the next few seasons. As for this year, the National League is so watered down that the Mets have just as good of a chance as any team to win the pennant. Skipper Terry Collins has done an excellent job and this race could go down to the wire.