Mets Blowing World Series Chances

It was all set up for the New York Mets to separate themselves from the rest of the National League East. And they blew it big time, and their odds of winning the World Series are seriously diminishing.

As of Monday, FanDuel has Mets odds of winning the World Series at +1700, DraftKings at +1800 and BetMGM+1800, Keep in mind that only DraftKings and FanDuel are legally operating in the state of New York. New York has yet to join the list of states where BetMGM is legal.

Following that superb 7-3 West Coast swing, the Mets were 14-9 and just a half game behind the Braves. Their next five series were with four truly awful teams (at home to the Nationals and Rockies, on the road to the Tigers and Reds) and a home series with the Braves. Instead of beating up on the also-rans, the Mets went 3-9 against them. Oh, and they dropped two of three to Atlanta. So now the Mets are 18-20, seven and a half games behind the Braves.

Things are looking bleak in Flushing, but there is some glimmer of hope — the immediate schedule is still in their favor. The Mets travel to D.C. for four games, then host the high-flying Rays followed by the Guardians, then they travel to Wrigley and Denver. That’s four out of five lousy teams.

The Mets need to go on a run against these teams because after that, the schedule gets more difficult (Phillies, Blue Jays, Braves, the surprising Pirates and the stupid Yankees).

It might be do or die time for the Mets because the baseball gods are giving them another chance to get back on track. And if they fail once again, there is no reason to believe they would be able to right the ship when they start playing winning teams.

So what do they need to do? Well, let’s start with the starting pitching, which needs to go deeper into games. The overtaxed, under-performing, injury-riddled bullpen cannot keep up this pace. The lineup needs to hit. Pete Alonso appears to be coming out of his slump and Francisco Alvarez looks like he is figuring out this major league thing. But Francisco Lindor and Starling Marte need to turn things around. And the Mets need to do something about their anemic DH spot. A Mark Vientos and/or Ronny Mauricio call-up could come sooner rather than later.

So better pitching and better hitting — how’s that for analysis?! Whatever; it’s starting to get late early for these Mets.