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New York Mets starter Chris Bassitt has been a huge part of the Mets' turnaround as one of the best teams in the league with a 90-55 record. An All-Star in 2021, Bassitt has carried over that form in New York, pitching to the tune of a 3.44 ERA in 165 innings pitched (27 starts). But amidst all the franchise's drama over the past decades, Bassitt wasn't quite sure what to expect when he arrived in New York from the Oakland Athletics back in March.
In fact, according to Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, Bassitt felt alarmed when he received news of his impending move to the Big Apple.
“It sounded like it was a mess,” Bassitt said, but he quickly realized that the Mets' culture shift was already well underway. “Then I got to spring training and was like, ‘Oh, this isn’t like that at all.’”
Chris Bassitt, after nine seasons in the league, knows just how important accountability is to a team's success, and he was pleasantly surprised with how mature the Mets players are in terms of wanting to improve and wanting to learn from their mistakes.
“I knew the names, but I didn’t know the personalities, so I didn’t know who could handle what,” Bassitt added. “Overall, I think, we have a locker room full of guys that like to be pushed, and that’s exciting. I think that’s honestly one of the biggest reasons why we’re good this year.”
Bassitt credited Max Scherzer, in particular, for providing leadership among the Mets' troop of quality pitchers. In particular, Scherzer urges his fellow pitchers to come up to him and fellow ace Jacob deGrom for advice, and if there's anyone you'd like to ask for pitching advice, it's those two.
“The best part is it’s not just one guy. We have five veteran pitchers,” Bassitt explained. “[…] We’re all basically looking at Max and Jake [deGrom] and those guys and saying, like, ‘Please mess up so we can jump down your throat.’”
Chris Bassitt is now confident in the Mets' chances after experiencing firsthand a franchise turnaround that's been a long time coming. Led by veterans Scherzer and deGrom, as well as shortstop Francisco Lindor, Bassitt knows the Mets have as good a chance as any team to make some noise come postseason time.
“We’re not trying to play until the end of September,” Bassitt declared. “We’re trying to play until November.”