Weak NL only thing keeping Mets’ season from being already lost

The Mets’ hope is they are not this bad, but the National League is.

In most seasons even having a pipe-dream playoff conversation about a team 11 games under .500 in June would be where folly merges with delusion. And the way these Mets are playing, that is likely true for them as well.

But in an era in which six teams in each league reach the playoffs and in a 2024 season in which just five in the NL are currently over .500, then perhaps you can squint your eyes and see more than just a soulless countdown to the trade deadline for these Mets.

The patron saints for such a belief system were in the Citi Field opposing dugout over the weekend. Because the Diamondbacks were still two games under .500 on Aug. 11 last year, eked in as the sixth seed with just 84 wins and yet won the pennant. Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said he saw that club being “inspirational” to struggling teams to envision what is possible.

That includes his own, which is in the swamp of NL sub-mediocrity that wants to believe its best baseball is still ahead. Even with a 5-4 victory Sunday, the Diamondbacks were just 27-32. But that was the same record as the Phillies had last season after 59 games — a point noted by Lovullo — and Philly finished as the top wild-card seed and went seven games against Arizona in the NLCS.

This is what troubled teams cling to at this time of year — too early to surrender, too late to just say it is a bad opening statement. The Mets could look down and see they are closer to the doormat Rockies and Marlins (the only NL teams with worst records) then even the substandard wild-card pile in front of them, where the current final wild-card spot is a tie between the 29-31 Cubs and Giants.