New York Mets didn’t run out of time, they started too late

The 2019 season would have a much different ending for the New York Mets if they didn’t wait so long to kick it into high gear.

I recall a time when Mickey Callaway was discussing the 2018 New York Mets and how they finished strong, but still finished the year below .500. In his comments, Callaway suggested if they had more time/games, they had a run in them.

This doesn’t really work for the 2018 Mets. They didn’t put any kind of run together until September. You could conceivably make this true about any team at any point in any season. Give the 1962 Mets a four-million game schedule and maybe they turn things around by the time we get to the 1980s.

It’s a little different for the 2019 Mets. Callaway, the master orator that he is, will likely pull out a few positive nuggets about this squad in the coming weeks. One I fully expect to hear is about how they ran out of time. While true, it’s not exactly the case.

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Instead of looking at it from this perspective, I view this as a team that started too late. They waited until after the All-Star Break to kick things into high gear. Even an average June would have made a huge difference.

If the team began to win in early July instead of at the start of the second half, they’re playing games in September as the ones being chased and not the ones doing the chasing.

The team entered May with a 15-14 record. They began June with a record of 28-29. Playing .500 baseball so early on in the season backed them up into an early corner. Their 38-47 record at the start of July dug them into a hole.

May and September are the only full months this season the Mets began with a record above .500. Sandwiched in between is mediocre baseball.

I credit the players for fighting back this year and bringing meaningful baseball up to the final week. It’s a season full of regrets, though. Brodie Van Wagenen wanted to eliminate the “what ifs.” However, I feel there are plenty more remaining.

What if they gave Noah Syndergaard his preferred catching a little more often? What if this team actually scored runs for Jacob deGrom? What if Edwin Diaz’s slider worked just a few more times?

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The season wasn’t a lost one. Let’s not be fooled, though. They had months to figure it out and waited too long to piece it together.