With Tuesday’s win, the Mets are now 33-15 in their last 48 games. That seems very impressive to me. But does it mean anything for what a team might do over 162 games? Here are the teams to win at least 33 games in a 48-game span the past three years. Only one streak per year per club is included, with the most wins chosen.
| Wins | Team | Year | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Dodgers | 2022 | 111-51 |
| 38 | Yankees | 2022 | 99-63 |
| 37 | Dodgers | 2021 | 106-56 |
| 36 | Dodgers | 2023 | 100-62 |
| 36 | Rays | 2021 | 100-62 |
| 35 | Braves | 2023 | 104-58 |
| 35 | Braves | 2022 | 101-61 |
| 35 | Cardinals | 2022 | 93-69 |
| 35 | Giants | 2021 | 107-55 |
| 35 | Yankees | 2021 | 92-70 |
| 34 | Mariners | 2023 | 88-74 |
| 34 | Orioles | 2023 | 101-61 |
| 34 | Rays | 2023 | 99-63 |
| 34 | Astros | 2022 | 106-56 |
| 34 | Cardinals | 2021 | 90-92 |
| 34 | Brewers | 2021 | 95-67 |
| 33 | Cubs | 2023 | 83-79 |
| 33 | Rangers | 2023 | 90-72 |
| 33 | Red Sox | 2022 | 78-84 |
| 33 | Astros | 2021 | 95-67 |
| 33 | White Sox | 2021 | 93-69 |
These are mostly very good teams. Our 21 squads break down as follows:
9 – 100 or more wins
4 – 95-99 wins
5 – 90-91 wins
3 – Fewer than 90 wins
Five teams finished with 33 wins, just like the Mets have. Those five averaged to an 88-74 record. The Mets may struggle to reach 88 wins this year because of their relatively poor record at the end of May. Still, this squad feels better than the 80-82 team they looked like to me before the start of the season.
91-61 will be their final record. 6-2 against the Yankees braves and twins has me feeling pretty good abt that prediction with a lot left against the worst teams in the league.
I believe Stearns played this very well. He provided upgrades without depleting the system assets needed for the foundation of sustained winning. Time will tell how this works out, but kudos. I would not be happy if he went Padres style.
The Mets are good as proven by this stretch. They faced weaker teams and did what is necessary. Still, they are in a dog fight. I like targeting the Phillies but it looks like there will be a pretty good team in the NL that doesn’t have a playoff seat when the music ends. If the Mets stumble on the road in August, they still could be that that team. The 4 games in SD followed by 3 in AZ wil be absolutely gigantic. LGM.
Agreed on the deadline moves. Mostly pitching with a removal of Stewart from the mix. No major losses to the minor league pipeline.
As far as the record goes, I would be happy with a 2nd place finish in the East and a wild card berth.
The big question remains, will Alonso play for the Mets next year?
I’m very happy with the deadline strategy, especially given the prices that other teams (SD) were paying. Stearns definitely solidified the pen which is big. I’d really like to see Butto back in the rotation now. Blackburn is fine, but he is really not much of an upgrade on Megill. Their career stats are very similar in a lot of areas. Rotation of Manea, Severino, Butto, Quintana and either Peterson or Blackburn makes sense to me. I assume for now Butto stays in the pen, but I’d like to see that change. I could go either way with Peterson or Blackburn, but since they traded for him, he’ll get his shot. Peterson may get bumped soon for Butto, especially when SRF and Garrett are back.
I have them down for 86 wins. But the Mets season is going to come down to 7 games in SD and AZ August 22-29, and then the last five of the year on the road vs ATL and Milwaukee.
I’ll stay with my preseason and prediction of 88 wins. When you look at the collection of hitters that were available at the trade deadline, there really was no Yoenis Cespedes type player available. Unless you count the surprise power of Jazz Chisholm and his 4 HR in three games for the Yankees. Stearns was serious about not giving up the farm for rentals and I believe all of the pieces that he brought in are upgrades over whatever we had. While it looks like we will not sweep the twins, taking two out of three means another series win, and another day towards the playoffs.
If you turn your history back to 1969, the Mets trailed the Cubs by eight games in August. It is very far-fetched, but let’s not count the Mets out as they gain ground on the slumping Phillies.
Stearns said the team was “playoff caliber”. I think they are because all of their problems were identified and addressed. No player is having a career year with many of them are playing like the back of their baseball cards. For that reason we should expect the same quality of play for the rest of the season.
Mark Vientos and Jose Iglesias Are Making Magic With the Mets
An article with the above title was posted earlier today at FG