The Mets record as May began, is right about where it was predicted to be before the 2024 season. 15 wins 14 losses. Maintaining that pace would have the Mets winning 84 games and perhaps a Wild Card berth.
They’ve played the Brewers (3), Tigers (3), Reds (3), Braves (3), Royals (3), Dodgers (3), Giants (3), Cardinals (3), and Cubs (3). Since the Mets played the Pirates, they have sunk under .500, but the Bucs were flying high when they came to New York. The only teams the Mets have played with a current sub .500 record, are the Giants and Cardinals. The Mets lost both of those series.
It gets easier, doesn’t it? No, not really. How the Mets have played only three games in their own division before May 1st, (the Mets beat the Braves in an early 3-game series in Atlanta), is a schedule quirk at best, and plain wrong at worst.
The Marlins have turned out to be worse than expected. The Mets won’t play them until a weekend series in Miami beginning May 16, at which point they will have played more than one-quarter of their schedule. The Nationals have been a little better than expected so far, yet the Mets won’t see them until a visit to D.C. in early June.
After the Mets leave St. Louis on May 7th, they are scheduled to return home to again play the Braves, this time at Citi Field. By the time that series is complete, it means the Mets will have played six of the 13 scheduled games with the Braves before they play another NL East team. The Phillies come into New York following the May 10-12 series with the Braves.
The Rockies are having an awful season. The Mets won’t see them until they visit New York for a four games series prior to the All-Star break in mid-July. The Mets visit Colorado in August, which is also the month in which the Oakland Athletics come to Queens for a four-game set. On May 1st, July and August still seem so far away.
Reviewing the schedule for the next month, through June 2nd, the Mets will finish up their current four game series with the Cubs, then travel to Tampa to play the Rays (3), and then head to St. Louis to play the Cardinals (3). That series will be followed by ones with the Braves (3), Phillies (3), Marlins (3), Guardians (3), Dodgers (3) and D’backs (4).
MLB schedules are not designed to be difficult or easy it’s only about arranging all 30 teams playing each other at some point in the season, and it’s the luck of the draw as to which teams will be playing, when and where. But the Mets have had the MLB schedule-makers do them no favors.
Other teams have had it easier. The Phillies have already played the Rockies, and the even more awful White Sox, going 6-0 in those games. It’s a major contributor to the good start the Phillies have experienced. This week the Phillies are finishing up playing the lowly Mike Trout-less Angels. That’s great for now but the Phillies know the difficult part of their schedule is yet to come.
On the plus side, the Mets have already completed their most difficult West Coast trip of the season. They still have 44 games (1/3rd of their remaining games), vs. the Marlins (13), Nationals (13), Rockies (6), White Sox (6) A’s (3), Angels (3) and currently sagging Astros (3). Those teams combined for a 69-140 record through April 30 so the Mets will finally get their turn to play teams that are struggling although the Astros are likely to be playing better by the time they play the Mets.
Keep in mind that the Mets final 10 games this season are (4) home games vs. Philadelphia, three in Atlanta, and a final four-game series in Milwaukee. How odd is it that the Mets will have both opened and closed the season playing the now first-place Brewers?
Teams play whichever opponent is on the schedule. The Mets will welcome playing some of the also-rans after playing a slew of contenders.
