Okay, maybe it's just me but as a lifelong fan of the Mets, I'm programmed to be the eternal pessimist. If you never get your hopes up, it's difficult to have them dashed and shame on you if not prepared for such cruel outcomes. But, when fast starts like this group has gotten off to materialize, I can't help myself.
The mind begins to dance with visions of what could be. A 28-11 record with some notable early distance to work with atop of the NL East is a circumstance that can be handled in one of two ways: get pumped and fall into the false sense that these Mets are the team to beat in the division or wait for it, the inevitable implosion that ultimately arrives to pulverize the heart into a million pieces.
The first sign of trouble arrived on Sunday with the news Jacob deGrom would be shelved for three weeks while dealing with arm imflammation, hitting with the impact of a blow to the chest. Not what we want to hear, but, upon reflection, the diagnosis could have been far worse. Season-ending...career-ending. Three weeks is probably 3-4 starts from an ace we desperately need, yet, optimistically, manageable as long as others rise to the unfortuante occassion and address our dilemma properly and with a mild sense of urgency.
However, after dropping two more contests at the outset of a three-game series in Arizona, marking just our second losing skid of as many games, I'm lured into the sad stance that it's the beginning of the end. The ride was glorious for eight weeks but the downfall is upon us.
Call it what you will...a defeatist's mentality, downtrodden sorrow, but understand it's a line of thinking engrained in long-suffering Mets' fans.
In Game 1 of the series, New York held leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 6-3 only to absorb a 9-6 loss. One night later, advantages of 1-0, 3-1 and 5-2 dissolved into a 6-5 setback. The back-to-back defeats assure the Mets will drop their first series since come up on the short end against the Brewers in mid-April. But, are they a harbinger of things to come?
Time to push the panic button? I desperately want to say no, to salvage the final game versus the Diamondbacks tomorrow before flying back home to start a four-game set with the Pirates. I know there are Mets' fans out there who sympathizes with the situation, who know all too well how this familiar scene plays out.
Time to find out if we can write a different twist on this annually painful script.
