During spring training when Mets general manager Sandy Alderson set a goal of 90 wins, there were a lot of snickers. But with the Amazin’s on pace for exactly that total after 25 games, and rebuilding some long-lost swagger, few are laughing now.
The Mets got to enjoy Monday’s scheduled off day with a 14-11 record, waking up in second place in the NL East. Going into Tuesday’s road trip that begins in Philadelphia, words are being replaced by wins, and bravado is being replaced by belief.
“The only way to become confident is to get some wins under your belt,” David Wright said. “It’s impossible to beat your chest and walk with a pep in your step when you’re not winning. But when you get a few series wins under your belt, when you beat some good teams, you start taking care of business at home, you start to gain that confidence and that shows on the field.
“Instead of going out and we’re up one or two runs late sort of hoping to win, we expect to win. It’s tough to explain. It’s tough to put into words but confidence isn’t something you can preach, and yell and scream. To truly believe, you have to practice winning.”
The Mets have started to do that, as their .560 winning percentage heading into a nine-game trip has them on pace for 90 victories over the course of the season.
“It feels great to play well, period…and to win games. That’s what’s expected of us,” outfielder Chris Young said. “A lot of people questioned us, wanted to see if we could do it. And early on you want to show what the team’s capable of. I feel like we’re doing a good job right now.
“The only way you get that confidence, that swagger about yourself is from winning ball games. If you’re out there and you feel amazing about the team and you’re losing a whole bunch of games, that confidence dies off. You need series [like we played against Miami], you need series like we played against the Cardinals to happen to give you that confidence.”
Young talked about the importance of building winning muscle memory, so when the Amazin’s hit a rough patch they will have that reservoir of confidence from which to draw.
It didn’t happen a year ago this month, when they were also three games over .500 on April 8 (5-2) and April 13 (7-4). They sat 10-9 at one point and were even 46-39 in 2012, but wound up 74-88 both years. Why should anybody believe this time will be any different?
“I really believe you win with pitching,” manager Terry Collins said.
“If you have the pitching, anything can happen. You don’t necessarily need a juggernaut offense. When your pitchers continuously keep you in the game and go into the sixth and seventh inning, it gives you a chance for sure, and we’ve taken advantage of that,” Wright said.
“We are where we are right now because of them. We’re not exactly ripping the cover off the ball. We’re getting some big hits when we need them, but we’re confident if we put up a couple [of] crooked numbers we’re going to get the win with the way these guys are throwing.”
Their struggles at cavernous Citi Field have been documented since the stadium opened in 2009, but they managed a 6-4 homestand despite batting .200, hitting only four homers and mustering a modest 32 runs thanks to pitching to a 2.72 ERA. Their starters contributed a sterling 2.49 ERA.
“The best thing for me has been the pitching staff,” Young said. “They’re the reason we are where we are.”
“It’s not the offense right now. It’s the pitching staff throwing up zeroes over and over and over again, giving up [just] a couple of runs and giving us the chance to scrape a couple runs across the plate.”