More ironic than rain on your wedding day, the fact that the New York Mets had a defensive play on the penultimate Sunday of the regular season in 2024 and 2025 is pretty outstanding. Jacob Young’s catch on Sunday is going to be one we see on highlight reels forever. Strange, unusual, and completely unplanned, it did a good job of summing up where the Mets are at right now. The most amazing thing is how it was just one of two dazzling plays.
Jacob Young’s incredible circus catch earns the @Chevrolet Electric Play of the Week ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/e0TMScsdlv
— MLB (@MLB) September 22, 2025
JACOB YOUNG IS W A L L IN pic.twitter.com/gjhpO5uhC0
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) September 21, 2025
What about 364 days earlier? On September 22, 2024, the Mets held on to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on Sunday night. They almost didn’t. Bryson Stott stole third base on a J.T. Realmuto strikeout thanks to a low throw by Francisco Alvarez.
The baseball gods smiled down on the Mets on this night. The wild throw ricocheted upward and remained on the infield for Mark Vientos to grab. The next batter would walk and steal second base, but Edwin Diaz sealed off the win.
Every ball was bouncing the Mets’ way this time last year, this time it’s bouncing against them
The Mets would lose their next game then experience two straight rainouts against the Atlanta Braves. They’d win just two more games for the remainder of the year in a season where every victory mattered to make it to the postseason. Had that throw by Alvarez been a little higher, to the left, to the right, or shorter, it might have bounced past Vientos and given the Phillies a chance to shut the door on the Mets. The magical run of the 2024 Mets would have ended prematurely.
It doesn’t seem like the Mets can get anything right lately, but there’s the good news: a lot was going wrong for them after their win over the Phillies in 2024. They won 2 of their final 6 games; something they’ll need to improve upon this time around if they’re going to stay alive. One final reversal would be nice. Taking 4 of the final 6 would be appreciated.
It has been a strange year of coincidences with this year’s Mets and last season. June 13 is the day when it all went wrong in 2025. June 12 is when Grimace threw out the first pitch and everything turned around in their favor.
There is a lot of math involved in baseball. These commonalities are just a little unusually strange and unfortunately ironic, like a pardon two minutes too late.