1 lesson learned from each series on the West Coast trip

The New York Mets finished their West Coast tour over the last 10 games going 5-5. They are as many games over .500 as when they first set off for California. If not for other members of their division being unbeatable, it would have been received more universally as a positive road trip.

Overall, it was a mostly successful journey from Southern California to more Southern California, and back north to Southern California. The Mets may have seen their National League East shorten but that had more to do with how other clubs were performing.

Before they play ball again at home this week, there are some lessons they can reflect on.

1) The Mets learned they can beat the Dodgers and no one can take that away

The toughest opponent on paper for the Mets was the Los Angeles Dodgers. It might be the toughest team they play all year from the National League. They have been the only team close to playing as well as the Mets.

After dropping the first two, the Met stormed back with a pair of victories in the second half of the series. The resiliency was important although it may have given them a false sense of accomplishment when they entered their next series.

Beating the Dodgers was important. More so, they did it with David Peterson and Trevor Williams starting games. Some shaky outings from their three main starters over the last few weeks, namely Chris Bassitt, could have had the team feeling a little less confident moving forward in their continued journey without Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. We witnessed last year how hard a team can fall when it’s missing even a single member of the starting rotation.

This year’s Mets team does feel different. Taking two out of four versus the Dodgers on the road will help them believe in themselves a little bit more.