2 reasons NY Mets will quickly regain an NL East lead, 1 reason to have doubts

The Mets have some tough games on the schedule

“Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down,” wise words from a woman who knew what she was talking about. Mets fans, I have given you two great reasons for optimism, but now I have to bring us back down to Earth just a little. I do think the Mets will be a playoff team, but it might not be as NL East champs. The one reason the Mets might not ever see first place again is the schedule.

Baseball is a long game, and there are still more than 100 games to go. So when I say schedule, I’m not talking about the long term. In the short term, the Mets play a pesky Red Sox team while the now first-place Phillies play the literal bottom-of-the-barrel Colorado Rockies. You have to figure the Phillies sweep that series, so the Mets need to take the two remaining games, then head home to play the World Champion Dodgers. The boys from LA have actually been in a far worse stretch than the Mets, but as former NBA great Rudy Tomjanovich said, "Never underestimate the heart of a champion." Any team that has Shohei Ohtani in the lineup is one to be feared. If the Mets drop the series in Boston and then drop a series to the Dodgers, that could give the Phillies enough cushion and space to run and not look back.

Mets fans, though it’s tempting, do not lose faith. Will the Mets make it back to first place in the NL East? Maybe. Maybe not. But either way, it’s gonna be a heck of a ride.