We're at the point now that asks — how much more embarrassing can the New York Mets possibly get? On Thursday night, against their rival the Atlanta Braves, the Mets blew a three-run lead, their third of the series, and were swept after Ozzie Albies hit a walk-off three-run home run.
The Mets couldn't have done it in front of a better crowd, either. In the booth for the night, the Braves were celebrating with some of their '90s and early 2000s legends to call the game. In front of nearly 40,000 at Truist Park, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Jeff Francoeur and longtime Mets killer, Chipper Jones, called a 13-10 walk-off victory as Albies launched one 408 feet into the Chop House. A summation of the Mets season so far — high flight, low fall.
OZZIE ALBIES WALKS IT OFF FOR THE BRAVES! WHAT A GAME! 🤯
(via @BravesOnBally)pic.twitter.com/VzU82vF3yP
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 9, 2023
It seemed as though the Mets could sense the looming presence of Larry — Mets' fans appropriate naming for Jones — as if he were peering down from the press box. The inexplicable spell that Jones still holds over the Mets persists, even if it is now only from a snarky smirk and not his bat. Or maybe Jones just gave his magic walk-off powers to Albies on Thursday.
Jones or Albies wasn't the highlight of the night, though. It was the Braves as a whole and their never-ending punishment of their NL East rival as they continued to come back in this series. The Braves have won 12 out of their last 17 against the Mets going back to last year. Two of those series were sweeps. One was this past series, with the other being their final of last season where the Braves took and captured the division. Really, the Mets haven't been the same since that series. To lead, convincingly, the NL East nearly the whole season to then lose it at the end is uncalled for and deserving of every bit of New York media scrutiny they've received.
This current era of the Mets has been spending like Gucci but producing like Dollar Tree. Going back all the way to 2021, they perhaps performed one of the more embarrassing moments any team has ever done. During a Spring Training practice they portrayed like they were making the last out in Game 7 of the World Series followed by the whole team celebrating as if they won. It played almost like a Mel Brooks movie, hovering the line between audacity and humor.
Ironically, the Braves, with only 88 regular-season wins, went on to win the World Series that season. The Mets finished third with a 77-85 record.
While the Mets were close last season to winning the NL East, billionaire Steve Cohen felt he would continue to write so more checks in hopes of finally achieving that goal. He went out and spent nearly $500 million on free agents. Meaning, the only thing Cohen and the Mets are in first place in is payroll, as they have the highest in MLB.
They tried to make that payroll amount even greater by attempting to sign Carlos Correa in the offseason, hoping it would set them apart even further from the Braves. It was yet another L, however, although for good reasoning as there were questioning concerns about Correa's physical.
One of the signings that did happen was that of veteran pitcher Justin Verlander, a for sure Hall of Famer. Verlander, coming off Tommy John surgery, just had his best statistical season last year, winning his third Cy Young and second World Series with the Houston Astros. But he's also 40 years old, while their other top starter, Max Scherzer, is 38. Both have been less than stellar this season, perhaps showing their age, with rising ERA's along with frequent visits to the injured list.
Meanwhile, the Braves and GM Alex Anthopoulos are just letting veteran fan favorites like Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson walk away to other teams. Atlanta is bobbing and weaving between major injuries, while pulling and plugging the holes opened by those injuries with their farm or one-time bench players.
It'll be interesting to see where this Mets team ends up by year's end. Manager Buck Showalter may be fired before the end of the weekend making, moving the team toward being early sellers. They could just live by their first baseman Pete Alonso's words and just “throw it again,” but in the case, their whole season again.
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