WITH A LACK OF PRESSURE, METS FLY UNDER THE RADAR

A lack of pressure goes a long way. Meat has the opportunity to cook evenly, maintaining its form and juices. Kids will figure out the future on their own time and not get stuck in a career path that wasn’t paved for them. Tires, well, they thrive under pressure but without it, they cease to even have a function. You enjoy dancing a lot more when nobody’s watching. After an Advil or 3, you suddenly have the ability to think clearly. Without the pressure from CO2, my wife can enjoy a flat soda without the bubbles hurting her sensitive nose. Everybody and everything reacts differently under pressure. So it’s no surprise now that the New York media has given up on the Mets, they are acting differently. They are now free to fly under the radar and play baseball to the best of their abilities. They have no destiny or preconceptions. They are just a group of guys that generally get along and get paid handsomely to play a game. And without the magnifying glass burning their retinas, the Mets have started to win again. 

 

Last Monday, the Mets rolled into Washington with no expectations and smiles on their faces. They faced a Nationals team that has found a lot of latent success. For the prior two weeks, they went 8-3 in a stint against the elite likes of Atlanta, Seattle and Cleveland. They’re scrappy and they’ve been turning heads. But the Mets fought them blow by blow in an 8-7 victory fueled by 3 stolen bases and 2 clutch Sac-RBIs from Harrison Bader. The Nationals threatened in the bottom of the 9th, pinning 2 runs on the spiraling Adam Ottavino before having the door slammed in their face. That would be the closest the Nationals would get to touching the Mets for the rest of the series. The Mets completed the sweep with 6-3 and 9-1 victories. Harrison Bader continued to hit balls where it mattered, when it mattered, racking up another 5 RBIs. Luis Severino gave the bullpen a much needed day off, throwing 8 innings of 1 run ball. Heck, even Tyrone Taylor legged out a triple. It was refreshing to see the team seamlessly dominate at the level that they did. The vibes felt immaculate as they took the long trek across the pond to London. 

 

You would assume that having two nationally broadcasted games in a European city that never sees baseball against your rivals who happen to be the best team in the league would add on a bit of pressure. But that still didn’t seem to be the case. The sold out stadium was just happy to see baseball. They could care less about the Met’s struggles and tumultuous history. On the broadcasting side, Fox decided to spend a good portion of Saturday’s pregame show talking about the Yankees-Dodgers game that was going on later in the day (On a side note, that has to be one of the worst cases of little brother syndrome that I’ve ever seen. The Mets are playing a series in London and all they can talk about is the Yankees. Get a grip, Fox!). Everybody just assumed that the Phillies were going to win both games easily and had already moved on with their lives. Once again, when there should have been a lot of pressure, the Mets felt none.

 

On Saturday, the Mets knocked around Phillies ace, Ranger Suárez, for 8 hits. That’s a season-high for him. Unfortunately, those hits weren’t timely enough and they only garnered 2 runs. If it weren’t for Sean Manea’s disastrous 4th inning, the game would have mathematically been won. What should’ve been viewed as a well-fought game with a sparkling bullpen performance was instead a 6-2 shellacking. But the Mets remained unfettered, even when they went down 3-0 early in Sunday’s game. Due to some clutch hitting and a complete meltdown by closer, José Alvarado, the Mets were able to squeak by with a 6-5 upset. JD Martinez came in clutch with 2 RBIs and catcher Luis Torrens single-handedly saved the game with a spectacular double play. But instead of celebrating, Luis limped off the field after getting wiped out by a dirty Garrett Stubbs slide. Chase Utley apologists would argue that the slide was clean, despite the fact that he was completely upright when he was called out. It also seems convenient that Chase Utley was in attendance, but I digress. Luis is allegedly fine, the Mets stole one from the league leaders and rest assured, they had a long and happy flight home. 

 

This isn’t the same Mets team I started writing about in April. They’re much more relaxed and less anxious to make a big moment happen. Instead, they’re focused on doing effective little things and it has made a world of difference. They return to The World’s Borough for a 2-series homestand starting Tuesday. The Marlins have only won 1 game in the month of June and don’t expect to win many more. The 34-35 Padres have a collective ego bigger than their win percentage and will undoubtedly look at their weekend series as an automatic sweep. I say let them think that way. The less pressure, the better. And as long as the team stays relaxed, they can just keep on rolling.