The New York Mets swept the Detroit Tigers and have now won three of their last four series. They no longer have the worst record in baseball as well, with the Los Angeles Angels (16-28), Houston Astros (17-28), Colorado Rockies (17-27) and San Francisco Giants (18-26) all trailing the Mets (18-25) now.
The young players are coming alive and are helping to pick up this struggling and injury-plagued team. Even if they cannot save this season, it looks like the future is bright.
Since the expanded playoffs were officially introduced in 2022, the worst record to make the playoffs has been 83-79. To even get to that mark, the Mets will need to go 65-54, which is an 88-win pace. To get to the average record of 85-77 that the third Wild Card has owned in the expanded playoff era, New York needs to go 67-52, a 91-win pace.
Before the season began, most projections had the Mets in the 88-to-90 win range, so while likely still improbable, a playoff run is not impossible.
This team will get reinforcements as the season goes on. Jared Young is about to start a rehab assignment. Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr., Francisco Alvarez, A.J. Minter, Mike Tauchman, Ronny Mauricio and Kodai Senga should all come off the injured list at some point. The Mets have already called up A.J. Ewing and more prospects including Ryan Clifford, Nick Morabito, Jonah Tong, and Jack Wenninger could spend time in the majors this year. The Mets’ stars are also unlikely to struggle all season.
For now, we can enjoy that in May, they have gone 8-4 thus far, which is an 108-win pace.
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3 Up
A.J. Ewing Has Arrived
Ewing has instantly lengthened the Mets’ lineup with competitive at-bats. He has helped transform this outfield into a black hole between his elite defense in center field and Carson Benge‘s plus defense in right field. His first hit was a triple in his debut, and his second hit was a 110.5 mph home run that he pulled over the right field wall in the series finale. The swing adjustments the team had him make in Double-A seem to have taken hold. We will see how the coming weeks go, but it is hard to see him losing the center field role even when Luis Robert Jr. returns if he keeps preforming at a high level.
Youth Leads the Team
Benge got the walk-off hit in the second game and smacked seven hits in the series. Ewing got three hits, three walks, a triple and a home run.
After a rough first inning, Nolan McLean dominated for six more innings, striking out a total of seven batters across seven innings. Brett Baty got a hit in each game, including a game-tying, two-run homer in the finale. Mark Vientos recorded four hits including a home run, scored three runs and drove in three.
The Pitching Continues to Thrive
Mets pitchers gave up runs early in each game but performed well overall, not giving up more than four runs in each game. Across 28 innings, they gave up eight total runs for a 2.57 ERA. There are arguments that Christian Scott‘s two runs should have been unearned, which would bring it down to a 1.93 ERA. Since reviewing film with pitching coach Justin Willard, Devin Williams has looked like the elite closer he has been for most of his career. Raley shined on back-to-back days. Huascar Brazoban (2.14) trails only Raley (1.06) and Austin Warren (0.82) for reliever ERA on the Mets. Warren looks like he may be forcing his way into a full-time role in the majors, and even Craig Kimbrel had a one-two-three inning.
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3 Down
Bo Bichette Continues to Struggle
Bo Bichette did have an impactful hit in this series, driving in the tying run on a single in the seventh inning of the second game. He went just 2-12 with two walks overall against Detroit, however. The upside is that he has been making good contact recently, so there is reason to think a turnaround could be coming. His swing decisions have looked better lately, he is chasing less, striking out less, walking more, and has been pulling the ball more all while maintaining elite contact rates. Those are all good signs, but the results are still not there.
Francisco Alvarez to the Injured List Again
Alvarez is injured once again. He has only played more than 117 games once, which was in 2023 when he played 127 games between the majors and minors, and he still missed games late in the season that year with a thumb injury. He missed time with thumb injuries in both 2024 and 2025 as well, had his hamate bone removed before the 2025 season, and in 2022 he ended the season with ankle surgery. He is expected to miss around eight weeks with a meniscus tear in his right knee.
Bench Pieces Struggle
MJ Melendez went hitless in the series while striking out twice. Tyrone Taylor went hitless with two strikeouts, though he did drive in one run. Austin Slater went hitless, though he also drove in one run. Vidal Bruján did not come into a game this series.
The Mets need more out of these players. While there are big hit tool concerns with Nick Morabito, it is easy to wonder if he could replace someone like Taylor, who is slashing .184/.205/.289. Even though he does not have Taylor’s defense in center field, with Ewing and Benge on the team that is less of a necessity.
