NL Beast

The Mets need to win 5 out of the next 7. The season might depend on it.

That sounds awfully premature in May, right? Here’s my reasoning. The next 7 games are at home against two teams that the Mets should dominate in the Reds and Nationals. Two very beatable teams, at home. After that, this season gets a lot harder: three in the Bronx, four in Atlanta, three in Colorado, then home for three against the [first place] Marlins and three against the Dodgers to close out the month. That’s not an easy stretch.

In the Reds, the Mets take on a team that’s batting .250. The Nationals? .242. The Mets, by the way, are also batting a collective .250, for what it’s worth. Except for Johnny Cueto, who will oppose Oliver Perez on Sunday, the opposing pitchers are not very good (Matt Belisle, Bronson Arroyo, Odalis Perez, John Lannan, Tim Redding, Michael O’Connor.)

If the Mets take 5 of 7, they go into the Bronx with momentum, and probably in first or second place. The booing at Shea will soften, the calls for Willie to be fired will subside. The Mets will reestablish themselves as a top team in the league, after a less than stellar start to the year.

If the Mets don’t dominate these two teams, they limp across the river to play another underachieving club from New York. Shea will not be a pleasant place, and the Fire Willie movement will reach a new high. We’ll understand that this team is underachieving, and this year will start to look a whole lot more ominous.

It’s time for the Mets to step up and prove that they belong in the conversation of the elite teams in the National League. Sure, it’s only May, but this is a turning point.

-Jonathan Kraft