Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Ah, June. The month Mets fans haven’t really enjoyed in the past few seasons. But has that all changed this year?

Sal Manzo

What has surprised me the most this month about the Mets?

Well for starters, they actually have a chance of finishing with a winning month in June somehow!

Even though June hasn’t helped the team’s offensive struggles, their pitching has continued to keep them afloat. Speaking of offensive struggles, It’s been quite a surprise that the firing of former hitting coach Chili Davis back in May didn’t spark a hot June for the Mets bats (sarcasm). I am surprised, however, with Pete Alonso’s continued struggle to hit for power at home. With just one home run on the year in Flushing, you can’t help but begin to wonder if his power surge at home in 2019 were more to do with the state of the baseball’s than the Alonso’s power. All in all, June has been more of the same for the Mets, which thankfully has been good enough for first place in the National League East.

Matt Musico

I’m surprised by just how bad the offense continues to be (and how they’ve continued to win and stay in first place despite it, but let’s stick with the first one).

Heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the Braves, the Mets’ team offense in June has actually been remarkably consistent to the previous two months. In April, the team wRC+ was 93, which was the exact same number it was in May. Oh, and that’s the number it is at the moment I’m writing this response.

The offense has been frustrating and inconsistent all year, but what really got me was the getting-shutout-four-times-in-eight-games earlier this month. Well, that and Jerad Eickhoff pinch-hitting and getting the first knock of the June 22nd game for New York in the fifth inning.

We’ve seen this offense perform better in the recent past, so it’s easy to listen to Luis Rojas and Pete Alonso say they’re going to break out and believe it to a point. But there comes a point in time when they’ve actually just gotta do the dang thing. Now is a good time as they hope to finish the first half and enter the All-Star break in first place and with a multi-game lead, which they’ve had for quite some time now.

Michelle Ioannou

I’d be lying if I said to you that my biggest surprise wasn’t seeing that Ryan Zimmerman not only didn’t retire, but was still out there crushing it… against the Mets. That was a rude awakening on my part. Other than that, it is refreshing to have a June where the Mets will not have a losing record. But, what is surprising is the lack of offense. I mean, it’s not a surprise that there’s no offense when Jacob deGrom pitches because that’s just how it goes (eyeroll) but to have constantly poor offense when you have players like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, etc. on the team is just ridiculous. Hopefully when some like Brandon Nimmo come off the injured list, they can bring a momentum with them.

Ryan Finkelstein

The thing that has surprised me more than anything this month is the resurgence of the Washington Nationals and the ridiculous power streak Kyle Schwarber is on.

Schwarber was picked up off the scrapheap this offseason by Washington, as the Cubs non-tendered the former fan favorite after a rough 2020 season. The Nationals were betting on a return to form for the 28-year-old who hit 38 home runs in 2019.

What they have gotten though is something far better than we have ever seen with Schwarber.

After homering again in their victory against the Tampa Bay Rays last night, Schwarber now has 16 home runs in the last 18 days. The Nationals have won 14 of their last 18 games and Schwarber now has 25 home runs on the season.

Washington is now only three games back in the NL East, which certainly not something anyone expected coming into the month of June.