1 reason for Mets fans to feel optimistic today

Are the New York Mets a good baseball team? The standings suggest so. They have a healthy lead in the National League East. In fact, their record and winning percentage are right there with the best teams in either league.

Mid-May is hardly the time to start gloating about things like that, though. We have been fooled before. Until the Mets can get through June playing well, it’s tough to fully commit your heart.

Let’s not rain on the excitement. There is a reason to feel optimistic even if recent history can create a little doubt. The Mets are winning often and they’re not just doing it against bad teams.

The Mets have already proven they can beat the good teams in the National League

The best teams in the National League—at least based on record—would be the Mets, the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and everyone in the West. The Mets have already played the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks. To say they “manhandled” them might be extreme but whatever is a step below that should suffice. The Giants didn’t put up nearly the same level of fight they would have in past seasons. The Diamondbacks, who are actually pitching amazingly well, simply didn’t have enough to compete with the Mets whose pitching staff is having a fine year themselves.

Of course, the Mets have also been able to take down the Philadelphia Phillies on numerous occasions and taken wins from the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals. Their fellow National League East squads are a bit messy right now. One should emerge as a contender. As of right now, it’s not clear who that will be. Maybe it’s the Miami Marlins.

The early stages of the season can sometimes have fans feeling like the sample size is too small to truly know how good or bad a team is. Plus, there are those inevitable injuries or team-wide cold streaks to worry about. The Mets will undergo an unexpected series loss at some point. They’ve managed to dodge it throughout the season while taking series after series and splitting one.

Nobody can point and say the Mets haven’t played anyone good. They have. They will continue to. However, this year’s National League seems to have a major disparity between the top and even the middle.

The Mets may not capture the National League East title on Labor Day but they’ve shown a tenacity that if they ever were to fall into second place, they’re not letting anyone run away with it. It’s only May but the Mets look like one of the best teams in baseball.