1 troubling Mets statistic that could test your faith in this team

The New York Mets enter Wednesday’s finale against the Baltimore Orioles with a 65-61 record. Not too shabby. It’s about the pace many expected they’d be at—a few games over .500.

The difference is this isn’t good enough. While the National League is full of jobbers who’ll be lucky to finish at .500 or better, there are one too many teams ahead of the Mets right now in the Wild Card standings. What do they have that we don’t?

For the Mets, one of their biggest challenges this season has been playing well against the good teams. Their record versus opponents who are .500 or better is not very good. They picked up only their 26th win against teams with a winning record on Monday. The only National League team with fewer are the Cincinnati Reds.

The Mets have struggled against winning ball clubs this season

It does need to be said that not every team has or will go against the same number of opponents with a winning record. The MLB schedule isn’t balanced even with everyone playing each other for at least one series. Having as many games as they do against the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals changes things. Teams in the NL West look destined to finish with more total games against .500 or better ball clubs while those in the NL Central should have fewer.

Overall, the Mets are 26-36 in these games. It includes teams who are currently at .500 or better, not necessarily what their record was when the Mets played them.

Ten games below .500 in this department gives the Mets a different feel. Their 3-3 record against the Oakland Athletics and Miami Marlins recently makes this current stretch appear even tougher. They play nothing but teams with a winning record and have so far gone 1-1 to start.

The pace is similar to what the Minnesota Twins have done in the American League. At 29-39, they too are 10 games under the .500 mark. Heck, even the Houston Astros at 27-31 aren’t performing all that great against the best teams. Their excuse is they started off badly. What do the Mets have?

Some of the ugliest series came against MLB’s better teams. Their notorious sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of May. Opening the year with three straight losses versus the Milwaukee Brewers. The most recent three losses when they had no answers against the Seattle Mariners pitching. Easily forgotten is how they dropped all three versus the Cleveland Guardians. That’s 12 losses right there. Win one from each of those series and the 0-12 becomes 4-8. Suddenly, a 30-32 record is much more palatable.

On the plus side, the Mets swept the Padres at home in the early stage of the Grimace Era. They split with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fully capable of rolling over against some of the best teams, we need to see them actually compete alongside MLB’s best. Finish off the Orioles on Wednesday, at home no less. A loss for the Mets will push them to .500 at Citi Field this season. Losing to a good team is understandable. Letting the visitors win so often at home is inexcusable.