New York Mets: The more things change, the more they stay the same

It’s a new year for the New York Mets with a new manager. However the results have become the same, no matter what has been changed.

New York Mets fans are often also fans of the Jets. It becomes a geographical situation. The Mets are in Queens and the Jets used to be. So much of Long Island became Mets and Jets fans. Manhattan, for the most part is made up of Giants and Yankees fans. There are exceptions but this is typically how the pairing plays out.

This becomes important when we look at how things play out for these two teams. The Jets and their fans have often heard a term, “Same Old Jets”. It means just what it sounds like. No matter how things change, the team always has the same problems. My wife’s Dad likes to use the line that Jets stands for “Just End The Season”. Real funny, right? Unfortunately, however, it is often true.

So let’s talk about the other team in the traditional duo, the Mets. As this team goes through the motions of the 2018 season, something is becoming abundantly clear. Watch the games and your news feeds and you will see it to. It’s truly an unfair scenario for all that can say they are Mets and Jets fans. What is that fate?

The fate is that the Mets are just like the Jets. It’s time to introduce a new phrase to the sports lexicon. “Same old Mets” is a fact of life, whether or not the mainstream media admits it or anyone wants to acknowledge it.

More from Empire Writes Back

Think about it for just a minute. Think about the problems that ended up costing Terry Collins his job. Everybody was on the disabled list. The Mets couldn’t come up with runs to back the pitchers up.

The injuries weren’t to insignificant players. Yoenis Cespedes missed time. So did Noah Syndergaard. Ex-teammate Matt Harvey missed significant time. The lineup could not hold up and the pitchers had to be perfect.

Let’s fast forward to 2018. During the Saturday night broadcast of the game against the Cubs, the announcers let us know that the Mets had 17 players on the DL. Again, Yoenis Cespedes is missing time. Same for Noah Syndergaard. They are far from the only two to miss time in 2018 thus far.

And the hitting? Sunday afternoon the Mets got seven innings of two run baseball out of Steven Matz. To help him out, the lineup managed three hits in a 2-0 loss to the Cubs. They aren’t exactly “Murderer’s Row” are they? The night before they squandered yet another stellar outing by Jacob deGrom to get blown out in the 14th inning.

Earlier in the week they suffered losses of 7-6 to the Braves and 8-7 to the Brewers. When they pitch they can’t hit, and when they hit they can’t pitch. The Mets just can’t put it together. Does that sound familiar to anyone else? It’s literally the same issue the team has had over the last several years.

Next: What Callaway should have said

The entire staff has changed, yet the same problems are there. It is rapidly feeling like 2017 all over again. The lineup has new faces but it doesn’t consistently hit. There is a new pitching program but the pitchers still get hurt. History is repeating itself in Flushing, NY.

It really is the “Same old Mets”. Maybe my father-in-law needs a new saying, “Must End The Season”.

Home/New York Mets