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John Smoltz On WFAN: If Mets Don't Get Healthy, Season Could Get Ugly

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The Mets are following the blueprint of many of today's major league teams by counting on the volatile recipe of power pitching and power hitting, Hall of Famer John Smoltz said Tuesday.

Talking to WFAN's Mike Francesa, Smoltz discussed the struggling Mets as they head into their series against the Braves.

"The Mets are kind of a fair to, if not, good example of what baseball has become: home runs, strikeouts and walks," the MLB Network analyst said. "It's tantalizing when you have the health of your starting pitching because you feel like you could pretty much put anybody out there and grind out a 2-0 game, but it's not a fair assessment of the staff that they have with their inability at times to just put three runs on the board.

"They look great for two weeks, then they look really bad for two weeks. ... Health for the Mets is essential, and they could be one of the scariest teams in baseball, or they could literally be one of those teams that you go, 'Man, this is tough to watch.'"

The Mets are 8-11 and have dropped eight of their last nine games.

As for Smoltz's former team, the Braves (6-12), don't expect too much this season, he said.

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"The Braves are going to have their issues winning close games, in my opinion," he said. "Once they start doing that, you gain confidence as a team. I don't know if they're going to be able to duplicate the second half last year of their hitting. I mean, their hitting was unbelievable -- Freddie Freeman's been unreal. (Matt) Kemp's health is very important to their offense. But they're in flux. They're not a team that's ready to compete."

The Mets and Braves are scheduled to open up their series at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday at Citi Field, although rain is threatening the first game.

To listen to the interview, in which Smoltz also discusses the early surprise teams in baseball, as well as the Cubs, the Red Sox and Brewers breakout star Eric Thames, click on the audio player above.

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