PHILADELPHIA — Show us something, Mets.
You came out of spring training saying you were a more together team under manager Terry Collins than you were under Jerry Manuel, and then won two out of three in Florida after dropping the opener, no surprise there since Josh Johnson was the monster of the mound.
The bottom line is no one is expecting anything from you, so there is no pressure. You got nothing to lose. Ever since Carlos Beltran took strike three from Adam Wainwright to close out the 2006 NLCS, the Mets have done nothing but lose.
There was the titanic 2007 collapse — Where have you gone Brian Lawrence? — to the Phillies, followed by Collapse II in 2008. The last two years have been complete disasters, and now the Madoff Mess has shaken the franchise to its financial foundation.
The Wilpons once promised Mets fans “meaningful” games in September. Mets fans have been so battered and bruised they’ll be happy to take meaningful games in April, five months early.
To avoid a crushing Summer of Madoff, the Mets must change the perception of the team. At one point in their history the Mets were lovable losers. Now they are just looked upon as losers with a capital “L.”
Even SNY, their own network, mocks them, having played a portion of an audio clip from “Family Guy” in which the announcer says, “It’s Opening Day, and here’s the first pitch . . . and the season is over.”
“And the season is over” did not make it on air during that Mets opening night broadcast, but the point was driven home that the Mets are not going to have a season worth watching — it was over practically before it began.
In a way, this is all great for the Mets. Every team loves to have an “us against the world” mentality. It’s what drives so many athletes to success. Being told you can’t accomplish something is the best motivator of all, so in that respect, the Mets have an emotional bond that has already shown itself.
Chris Young will start tonight at Citizens Bank Park against Cole Hamels, one of the Phillies’ Fantastic Four. On paper it looks like a classic mismatch. Hamels is a star on the rise with 51 wins over the past four seasons, three more than Young has over his entire career.
Young has only six wins over the past two seasons because of injury woes, but he has battled back. He is a survivor.
He deeply believes in his new team, saying: “Outside expectations can be what they are. Whatever. People can say what they want. I’ve been on teams like that before. It makes it fun to go out and overachieve. Nobody in here has that goal of overachieving. We all have that expectation of winning and being successful.”
Collins has emphasized that these Mets must be there for each other. That is the first step in turning the ship around. Against the Fightin’ Phillies, the Mets will need contributions from everyone, considering they will see Hamels, Joe Blanton and Roy Halladay.
In the three-game series against the Marlins, the Mets hit .234 with a .317 on-base percentage and a .393 slugging percentage.
The Phillies’ bats came alive in the ninth inning of the opener against the Astros with six singles to post a 5-4 comeback victory. The Phillies wound up sweeping the three-game series, hitting .349 with a .407 on-base percentage with a .472 slugging percentage.
Yes, that was only one series. And yes, this is only the second series of the year, but for the Mets, April is the new September. They’ve become baseball’s punching bag — remember on Saturday, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the Mets “abused” lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano the three previous seasons.
These Mets need all the positive vibes they can get early in the year. A good series against the Phillies would give them a lift going into the home opener Friday.
Show us something, Mets. When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com