The Mets are still the talk of the league and it is for far more than surprising the National League with their late season push. People are still talking about the Matt Harvey controversy even after the Mets agreed to limit his innings late in the season. You can’t help but see both sides of this issue. I can’t tell you how sad I get when I watch MLB.tv and see their “popular footage” and see Johan Santana fire their first no-hitter in franchise history. It took him over 130 pitches to do it and he was never the same after that. So, throwing caution to the wind often doesn’t make sense.

Yet, the Mets haven’t been a postseason factor since they played in the Subway Series of 2000. That’s when they had all-stars like Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura. It’s easy to look at a young rotation and predict dominance. Tell that to the Washington Nationals following their cautious use of Stephen Strasburg. He was 15-6 that season, but they shut him down in September. If he had pitched in October they may have gone the distance. He’s been 32-27 since with an ERA considerably higher than that 2012 season. No one would have bet on that back then. Just goes to show you can never predict the future.

If you read only one thing…..

Chris Davis has quietly hit 43 home runs and 110 RBIs on the season. He has done all this during a contract year. He will parlay that into a 100+ million dollar deal this offseason. Odds are good it will not be with the Orioles. Like most bonus babies, he will be overpaid. Scott Boras will make sure of that. Davis owners have been very happy this season, but we should remember that he was almost a fantasy afterthought last season when he slumped horribly.

Meanwhile, Carlos Beltran is on the other end of the spectrum. There was a time when he might have been the number one overall pick. That was over a decade ago. Some people may have thought his career was over earlier this season, but he’s bounced back to hit .279 with 17 home runs and 60 RBIs. It may not be enough to start on most fantasy teams, but he’s made himself relevant in the second half.

Just as we expected….

Who’s been the best shortstop in the American League this season? If you said Xander Bogaerts then take a bow. Coming into the season that would have been a huge surprise, but we have come to expect multiple hits from him each time out. He had two more on Tuesday night and lifted his average to .325. He may not have the power of Correa or the speed of some other shortstops, but he has been the best one overall in terms of fantasy production.

I’ve already profiled the NL Cy Young race, but since that profile, Jake Arrieta has done everything he possibly can to win the award. In fact, he is the first and possibly only pitcher to win 20 games this season. I could honestly care less about wins. There really is very little rhyme or reason why he has won 20 and Clayton Kershaw can’t even get to 15. Still, his sub 2.00 ERA and those 20 wins might actually get him some votes.

But we didn’t see this coming….

I’m not sure if this fits the “didn’t see this coming” category, but Robinson Cano has been going nuts in the second half. Just the mention of Cano getting hot is the opposite of surprise normally, but he struggled through the first four months of the season with what he would call a digestive issue. I’m not sure what that means, but he has gone bonkers since then and is now threatening to have another 20 home run season and could sneak close to 80 RBIs after looking like crap for most of the season. I guess cream always does rise to the top.

The fact that Albert Pujols hit his 36th home run is not a shock by itself. The fact that he came into the game mired in a 10 for 70 slump is a bit of a surprise. I don’t know if he is getting old per se, but he is getting a lot easier to pitch to. When he was a Cardinal, there was no consistent way to get him out.

The Rest of the Details

Save Chances

• Kevin Jepsen (converted)
• Brad Boxberger (converted)
• Darren O’Day (converted)
• Andew Miller (blown save)

Injuries

• Yadier Molina has been on the shelf for the past several days. He hopes to make it back before the end of the season so he can tune it up for the playoffs.

Rumors

The Milwaukee Brewers hired former Astros assistant general manager David Stearns. Stearns will be the youngest general manager in the game at 30. He comes with an Ivy League background, but those that know him well expect him to bring a mixture of analytics and old-fashioned management to the Brewers. Additionally, the Phillies extended the contract of interim manager Pete Mackanin. The move makes perfect sense as the Phillies have performed much better under his tenure.