New York Mets legend and current SNY analyst Keith Hernandez believes the team’s current winning ways will go a long way.
If you turned away for a short period of time, you would’ve missed it. Because all of a sudden, the New York Mets have gone from a laughing stock to a playoff-caliber ballclub.
Yes, the Mets are the hottest team in baseball. Having won 13 of their last 14 games along with each of their previous five series. They now find themselves .5 games back in the National League Wild Card race and Mets legend and current SNY analyst Keith Hernandez really can’t believe it.
“To be honest with you, I never would have thought this would’ve happened,” Hernandez said, per Justin Terranova of the New York Post. “I still have lessons to learn, I was skeptical. … This is really a good lesson that you just never know in this game.”
It all started when the Mets decided not to sell too much at the July 31 trade deadline. They kept right-handers Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler, acquired All-Star right-hander Marcus Stroman, and only gave up left-hander Jason Vargas.
Hernandez believes the Mets’ decision to not give up numerous assets along with their current resurgence are things that’ll have a long-lasting effect on this ballclub.
“I strongly believe that if [general manager] Brodie [Van Wagenen] had a big selloff, that would have been the absolute wrong message to send to this team and that clubhouse with a lot of young players who are going to be here for a while,” Hernandez said. “That’s [Pete] Alonso, that’s [Amed] Rosario, that’s [Jeff] McNeil, [Brandon] Nimmo.”
“If the Mets had sold, the team would’ve gone right in the tank,” Hernandez stated. “It’d be management’s quitting and here we go again. Brodie went out and put the Mets all-in and the team has responded. From a psychological point of view it was the best thing that happened.”
The Mets have a huge three-game series starting on Friday against the Washington Nationals. The Nats currently lead the NL Wild Card race by 2.0 games.