New York Mets: Five lessons learned in the first half of 2019

To say the New York Mets first half of 2019 has been difficult, might be the understatement of the season. Here are some lessons we learned about this team at the midpoint.

The Major League All-Star Game is the unofficial midway point of the baseball season. With a game left before the four-day break, it’s a good time to reflect. Unless you are a New York Mets fan. Then you can reflect as tears roll down your face and splash harmlessly into a half-filled beer mug.

So far 2019 has been a huge disappointment for the Mets organization and its supporters. Their 40-49 record is a disaster. A season that started with so much hope and high expectations, has gone down the tubes. What’s worse is that it’s getting worse. Their record over the past 30 games is 11-19 (.367), over the past 20 games is 6-14 (.300), finally, over the past 10 games is 2-8 (.200). Look up freefall in the dictionary and there is probably a picture of Mr. Met.

Digging a little deeper, aside from winning home games at night, there is no area in which they excel. As a matter of fact, they have losing records in almost every spit. They don’t beat lefties or righties, teams above .500 or below .500, one-run games or games decided by other margins. There is no advantage.

What’s even more galling to the people who follow this team is how they lose. 21 blown saves in 88 games. That counts for an appalling 43 percent of their losses and 24 percent of all games played. More on that in a bit.

Can this season be salvaged? The odds and number of teams between them and a playoff spot make that an unlikely proposition. Then again the Colorado Rockies went 21-1 down the stretch in 2007 to make the postseason.

There are still lessons to be learned from what has transpired from March 28th until this point.