The Mets are 22-8 against .500 or lower teams, and 6-15 against teams over .500.
The Mets started off the season as hot as anyone could have imagined. They had one of the best months of April in franchise history, which included an 11 game wining streak. After going 15-8 in the seasons first month, May wasn’t so kind to the Mets who dealt with injuries and losing streaks and with Sunday’s win over the Fish the Mets finished May going 13-15. After two unpredictable months of baseball it is anyone’s guess what June has in store.
The Mets have a very favorable June schedule lined up. Their opponents have a combined 165- 190 record. The Mets are 8-1 this season against the Phillies but are only 20-22 against the rest of the league so this will be a good chance for the Mets to get back on track against opponents outside the city of brotherly love.
The month will start out west a place the Mets haven’t fared well in recent years. The Mets will play 3 games in San Diego against the Padres who made the most offseason additions out of any team and are still waiting for everyone to click. The Padres had high expectations coming into 2015 but sit in third place in the NL West 2 games under .500. To finish off the trip the Mets will travel to the only place out West where they are known for their success, Chase Field in Arizona. The Mets have won at least four games against the D-Backs in each of the last three seasons. The Diamondbacks are right under the Padres in the NL West but have been hot of late and certainly cannot be underestimated after winning their last two series.
The boys will return home for their first and toughest series at home in the month of the June when they welcome in the defending World Series Champion Giants. Since starting the year slow the Giants have picked it up of late especially after the return of All Star outfielder Hunter Pence. I’m excited to see if the taunting Hunter Pence signs which became a phenomenon in baseball in 2015 will make a return to Citi Field when that series starts on June 9th.
The Mets will then play their next 10 games against the Braves and Blue jays. The Mets will host the Braves for three games, who they are already 4-2 against this season, before continuing the AL East tour when they welcome the Blue Jays to Citi Field for the very first time and the first time to Flushing since 2001. It will also be a homecoming for Mets great and fan favorite Jose Reyes. The Mets and Jays are scheduled for a home and home and after playing two games in Queens the Mets will head North of the Border to the Roger Centre, a place they haven’t been since 2012 to finish off the season series with the Blue Jays.
The Mets will finish this 10 game stretch when they head to Atlanta for three more games with the rival Braves who after the addition of Juan Uribe are not going anywhere and are keeping themselves a float in the NL East sitting 3 games behind the Nationals. That trip will feature an outing by the 7 Line so keep an eye out for the Mets road warriors.
The road trip will continue when the Mets make their only trip to Miller Park in Milwaukee of the season where they have played around .500 ball going 7-6 there in the past four seasons. The Mets beat up on Brewers at the end of May taking two of three, including Noah Syndergaard’s first MLB win.
The Month will end when the Mets take on the struggling Reds for the first time this season when Cincinnati makes the trip to Queens. Cincinnati has had a ton of success when playing the Mets on the road; they are 10-4 at Citi Field since 2012. The Reds sit near the bottom of the NL Central after putting themselves in a huge hole with a 9 game losing streak but did the Mets a huge favor on Sunday by completing the three game sweep of the Nationals.
The Mets will display the 6-man rotation for the first time in June in their opening series with San Diego. We will get to see how Matt Harvey does with the extra day of rest and how Dillon Gee will fair in his return to the Mets rotation. The one perk of the 6 man rotation is that it is another day we will get to go without seeing Jon Niese give up 5 runs and unless he picks up it we may either be back to a 5 man rotation or see the emergence of Steven Matz by the time June comes to a close. June will most likely see the return of Travis d’Arnaud and Vic Black to the lineup but it is unsure if David Wright, Jerry Blevins and Bobby Parnell will make an appearance before the month’s end.
2015 is not a huge year for the Mets concerning milestones, but in June Curtis Granderson is expected to play his 1400th game and Ruben Tejada is scheduled to play in his 500th game so do what you want with that. The first day in June will be the third anniversary of the Mets first and only no hitter by Johan Santana against the Cardinals and with the way some of these guys are pitching maybe we will see a second some time soon. The Mets have had some big moments in June. On the 26th Vince Coleman broke the Mets record for most stolen bases in a game with 4 in 1990. June 27th will be 7-year anniversary of the day Carlos Delgado has nine RBI’s at Yankee Stadium to break the Mets all Time record for most RBI’s in a single game. June also has some not so fun anniversaries; On June 11th 1985 the Mets gave up their most runs in a game when the Phillies put up a 24 spot against the Amazin’s. On June 12th, 2007 John Maine gave up back to back to back home runs to the Dodgers the most home runs a Mets pitcher has give up in a row.
If you are like me and are a huge fan of the Mets steeping up their promotional game in 2015 here is what to expect for June. The promotions will come when the Mets host the Braves and Reds. The Braves series will feature a Juan Lagares free shirt Friday, a David Wright replica jersey, and a family Sunday/ cap giveaway at Citi Field. The Reds series will be giving away a Mr. Met free shirt Friday, a Steve Miller Band postgame concert on Saturday, and Sunday will be another family Sunday when the Mets give out a Lucas Duda Growth Chart.
June shows a ton of promise for the struggling Mets who will have the chance to take advantage of some non-playoff teams and continues to gain ground on Nationals. The Nats have a tougher schedule; they will have to go up against the AL East leading Yankees and Rays and will play the bulk of the NL Central. If you told me the Mets would be a ½ game out of first place after the first two months of the season I would have asked where I do I sign, lets keep our fingers crossed that we will able to say the same or better come the end of June. Here is to another good month of Mets baseball!
