Let’s Talk
The Mets have played 18 games. That’s it. One-eight. Ten percent of a 162-game schedule, and they’re literally 11–7. And yet, some of you are acting like this team is barreling toward a 90-loss season by May.
I know Mets fans live and die with every inning, every pitch, every swing—but the unhinged panic every single second lately is getting weird.
Everyone needs to take a deep breath, stop reading box scores like tea leaves, and let this thing breathe.
Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lose, Sometimes it Rains
Look, I’m the first to square my shoulders up a little on a 0–2 count. But I also believe in the purity of the game. I’ve written it before, and I’ll double down now—baseball isn’t built for instant gratification.
The sport doesn’t reward overreactions or armchair analysts pretending they’re launching into some kind of anti-Brett Baty dissertation off their Statcast dashboard.
The truth is simpler: this team is still figuring it out, and that’s fine.
The Mets aren’t hitting with runners in scoring position because the approach needs fine-tuning. It’s not about chasing launch angle or fetishizing exit velo. It’s about barreling the baseball and driving it where it’s pitched. Sure, it looks like some guys in the lineup are trying to yank everything into the Apple. The truth is in consistent contact. Using the whole field. Situational hitting and advancing runners will also, in fact, win games.
These are some of the greatest athletes in the world—even when you’re posting from your couch that they “aren’t worth the money.”
Jesse Winker is an RBI machine. Luis Torrens and Luisangel Acuña are advancing runners with extra-base hits. The superstar slugging 1-2-3 trio of Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, and Pete Alonso are literally living on base and crushing the long ball to bring each other in. But sometimes, we’re watching an offense that’s incomplete, not incompetent.
Believe in Brett Baty
And now, to the Brett Baty haters—you can sit down. If you’re booing a 25-year-old who has more raw tools than half the league’s third basemen because you don’t like his swing path on a Tuesday in April, maybe you need a new hobby. He’s wearing orange and blue. He’s on your team.
You don’t boo your own unless you want to be the punchline of your own circus.
Juan Soto is Literally a New York Met
As for Soto? Let it go. He doesn’t miss the Yankees. Or maybe he does. It’s really not important when it comes to discussing his raw talent and contributions to this team. His presence alone has made this team better in multiple ways—attitude, plate appearances, and all. He is an exceptional influence beyond being a generational ball player.
He chose the Mets. He believes in the Mets organization.
He’s raking. He’s walking. We could talk stats here (though, you know, I don’t like doing that), but he’s got an OPS over .900 and has been on base nearly every single game.
He is one of the greatest free-swinging pure hitters in the game, not a stat padder. And if it took a couple of weeks to “wake up the baseball killer” in him—well, consider him fully caffeinated. He’s about to go on a tear that silences all this noise.
Lay Off the Sabermetrics and Enjoy the Game
Stat-watching has made baseball fans miserable. Somewhere along the way, fans stopped watching (or even enjoying) the game and just started dissecting it.
Every swing, throw, and breath is now judged through a decimal-pointed lens that ignores context, feel, and the actual rhythm of baseball.
Some of us still believe in trusting the sport’s natural pulse—how baseball isn’t meant to be over-engineered or analyzed to death in real time. But too many fans are so consumed with wRC+, expected stats, and chase rates that they’ve lost the ability to enjoy the game as it unfolds.
Listen, even as a sports journalist, I’m working while watching these games and can still romanticize it all. But for many fans, it’s really turned into a numbers contest instead of “America’s Pastime.”
— Gab (@gabrielleraucci) March 27, 2025
To quote the great Crash Davis (as I often do): “Relax, let’s have some fun out here. This game’s fun. Okay?” And stop booing your favorite team; this isn’t Philly.
