Obviously I haven’t shared my thoughts on the Mets in a while.

This is supposed to be a fun diversion for me…and it’s no fun writing about something that isn’t bringing me joy at the moment.

May was a complete disaster.

By all rights it should be time to move on from the 2024 Mets.

But the current state of baseball makes it kind of impossible to do that.

OK. Let me start by saying that I am pretty sure the Mets are still going to be sellers more than they are buyers at the trade deadline.

They should be - they have some valuable assets that can bring back some pretty important pieces to build with. It would be bad business not to trade some of the guys on one-year deals or with expiring contracts or that you can sell fairly high on.

But I maintain that even if they do that it probably won’t bury them.

That’s not exactly a reflection on how well they can play but how poorly everyone else in the National League is playing.

The most telling stat in the majors right now to me is that the Phillies are 4-2 against teams with winning records. Think about that for a second. We more than 60 games into the season. The Phillies have played 63 games.

THEY HAVE ONLY PLAYED SIX GAMES AGAINST TEAMS WITH WINNING RECORDS.

Now that is partly because the Phillies have as weird a schedule as the Mets have had with this London trip mixed in. It’s also because the Phillies have played the Mets (losing record) while the Mets have played the Phillies...who can’t play themselves. But it’s also because there are only three other teams in the National League that have winning records. (Atlanta, Milwaukee, and Los Angeles.) But that’s still an abnormal number.

Take those Dodgers, for example. The Mets have already played the Dodgers 6 times. The Phillies have yet to play L.A., one of those NL teams with a winning record.

This is not an argument that the Mets can catch Philadelphia. It’s just to illustrate the fact that the Phillies have a 44-19 record and they have built that record by going 40-17 against teams with losing records.

Which, good for them, that’s what you’re supposed to do. Beat up on the teams you are better than.

The Mets don't deserve this conversation because they have blown so many games. But here we go:

The Mets are 9-22 against teams with winning records. So against teams with losing records they are 18-13.

That’s not 25 games over .500. But it’s something.

You can point to the series against the Marlins and the missed opportunities there…but let’s assume so much of the early part of the season is ancient history.

This London weekend presents a good opportunity to reset. The Mets are coming off a 3-game sweep of Washington, a team that’s actually played better baseball overall then the Mets…but the Mets should be beating.

They have Miami again out of the break. They have the underachieving Padres, Rangers, Cubs, and Astros surrounding 2 games with the Yankees to close out June.

That seems like a real opportunity for the Mets to show us exactly what they are…if they’re anything different than the way they played in May.

Everything surrounding these two games in London is weird. It would be a miracle if the Mets won both games. A split would be great. But losing both feels exhibition-y. I don’t know how to weigh these games so I’ll give them a pass.

But the rest of June? And then opening July with 11 games against Pittsburgh and Washington? (Against whom the Mets so far this season are undefeated - 6-0?) And then Colorado before the All Star break?

This is the Mets’ opportunity to start beating up on some teams.

Again, the Mets have had similar opportunities so far this season and haven’t done it.

So if they continue not to?

Well, then it’s clearly the Mets that other teams are looking to on their schedule as a team they can beat up on.

Quick Notes:

Obviously I’m still a little bummed about the Rangers. I’m working on not letting sports affect my life. I made a reel about it that you can find at my Instagram linked at that button below. (It’s a good follow, I think, that account, and it’ll get better as my running ramps up this summer.)
I think I’ll root for Edmonton for two reasons. One is that the Panthers play a little dirty. Just over the line. They knocked a key Rangers player out of the series and then complained about every Rangers hit. I thought that stunk. But I think it’s also about time a Canadian team wins the Stanley Cup. So good luck Oilers.
Lastly, a reminder that I’m going to be running the New York City Marathon in November, and I’m fundraising for Safe At Home, which helps kids dealing with trauma from abuse. I’d be very grateful if you clicked here and made a donation. Thank you for your support.