NL Wild Card Standings: Where the NY Mets are way better than the Cubs, Padres, Reds

It was frustrating to lose 3 out of 4 to the Miami Marlins, especially after beating the Philadelphia Phillies in all 3 games and now taking the first 2 versus the Detroit Tigers. The New York Mets have shown their best and worst over the last week. Their best includes an ability to beat up good teams.

Every team currently in a playoff spot in the American League has an over .500 record vs. teams whose current record is .500 or better. Not so in the National League. Only the division leaders have performed with a winning record against those ball clubs. As have the Mets.

Their win over the Tigers gives them a 34-29 record this season in this department. Although a fluctuating total with teams falling above and below the .500 mark at any given time, the 5 games over .500 is far better than what the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and even Cincinnati Reds have shown against winning teams.

The Mets are the best NL Wild Card team in one place at least

At 34-40 against .500 or better teams, the Cubs who lead the NL WIld Card have the largest gap between wins and losses with 6 of them. The Padres are 36-41 in those games. The Reds sit 32-37.

There’s no fugazi measuring of wild card placement due to facts like these. The Cubs are still 5 games up on the Mets. The Padres lead them by a lowly game. Then there are the Reds who trail us by 5. Someone bring a casket to Cincinnati.

Concerns for the 2025 Mets have been plentiful with starting pitching and the bullpen being the most alarming. However, it does seem that this season more than even last that there is a pathway to advance far in October. The Los Angeles Dodgers aren’t nearly as mighty as they were a season ago. Only the Milwaukee Brewers seem somewhat unbeatable and yet it’s the club the Mets defeated on the road last year to propel themselves to the NLCS.

Beating good teams is necessary in the regular season to stack up enough victories to get there. It’s also a pretty good confidence booster. The same is true for losing to clubs like the Marlins. The fans seem more affected by it, fortunately. The weekend disaster hasn’t seemed to be anything close to the death sentence some thought (others wanted) it to be.

There’s a simple reason. This Mets team beats good clubs.