Breaking news: The Cubs and Mets game will be played…..

This evening marks the start of the competition amongst the top teams.

In a matchup between two first-place teams, the New York Mets (24-14) will host the Chicago Cubs (22-16) in Queens. After spending a large portion of the previous month bouncing around the nation, the Mets are in a position where they can comfortably settle in after starting a six-game home stand, followed by six games in the northeast and nine more home games.

After losing or splitting their last three series, the Mets are back to winning them with their victory on Wednesday. However, even in their recent losses, the squad has remained competitive. The Mets have not lost by three or more runs since their game against the Twins on April 15th, with the exception of Tuesday night’s defeat to the Diamondbacks. Additionally, the Mets still feel like a club that hasn’t truly gelled even if they are in first place and ten games over.500.

The lineup hasn’t been a well-oiled machine yet, but it has been hitting just enough to win games, which contributes to that. Juan Soto appears to be closer to starting his season on the proper path than he has been at any other point this year after hitting two home runs on Wednesday. Soto has had a 195 wRC+ since the Nationals series began on April 25th, hitting.313/.424/.646, four home runs, a.333 isolated slugging, and more walks than strikeouts.

However, the Mets’ offense has been patchy at best, save from Soto and the still-hot Pete Alonso. Francisco Lindor has recovered from his mid-April injury and is still hitting hard. Though they haven’t been able to consistently produce, Brandon Nimmo, Mark Vientos, and the recently returning duo of Francisco Alvarez and Jeff McNeil have all displayed glimpses of their prior success. You can tell that the rest of the club is having trouble when players like Tyrone Taylor, Luis Angel Acuña, and Luis Torrens are taking some of the better at-bats in the lineup.

The Mets are now rostering Brett Baty and Jose Azocar, two guys who appear to be stand-ins, after Jesse Winker missed two months due to an oblique issue. Baty is a mystery who looks to dominate in spring training and in Syracuse but isn’t yet able to put it together for the big league team. He hardly received any Triple-A repetitions because of a toe ailment. Restricting his playing time to the bench appears to be a capitulation to the fact that he has no future with the team.

Azocar is a valuable player who had a good spring but isn’t hitting well enough at the moment to warrant a berth on the team. Personally, I would rather that a young outfielder, like Drew Gilbert, take Azocar’s spot to see what he might have left in the tank, and that Jared Young get the majority of the left-handed designated hitter at bats remaining in Winker’s place.