Mets’ task ahead is figuring out a way to rise out of mediocrity

The Mets’ matinee Thursday served as a primer on their topsy-turvy, are they good/are they bad season to date.

They didn’t play very well in any phase. There were five more steals against (so that is 41 out of 42 successes on the year) and Jeff McNeil tripped over second base trying to cover on one. Joey Wendle, starting at shortstop for Francisco Lindor, had another poor judgment play on defense. McNeil and Starling Marte did not catch a pop-up between them. DJ Stewart was doubled off first not sliding back into the bag. Pete Alonso dropped a pop-up and went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to drop to 1-for-his-last-26. Reed Garrett botched a grounder. Adrian Houser again could not find the strike zone consistently.

Yet, they did enough to win 7-6 over the Cubs in 11 innings thanks largely to Marte throwing out two runners at the plate in extra innings, ably assisted on those two assists by Omar Narvaez catch and tags. And because Lindor, who the night before pulled himself from the game worried about throwing up or “going No. 2” while playing shortstop, came out of sick bay and off the bench to deliver not one, but two two-run doubles — the last of which walked off Chicago.

It split this series two games each. It made the Mets 16-15 in a season in which they opened 0-5, followed 10-3 and now are 4-7. They are good and bad, often within individual games. The 16-15 actually tied them with the Reds for the final NL wild card. Which doesn’t matter in early May except to emphasize that behind the Dodgers, Braves, Phillies and whichever team emerges to win the NL Central there is going to be a traffic jam for the final two wild cards. Thus, squeezing out wins, especially against a team that could be in the way such as the Cubs, is vital. Imperfect wins beat the alternative.

It also accentuates just how important it is going to be to maximize the roster. Which, again fitting so far for these 2024 Mets, provided worrisome and upbeat news Thursday.

Carlos Mendoza announced before the game that Brooks Raley was not going to be activated from the IL when eligible in the next few days, as was initially hoped. Mendoza said more testing was necessary, but did not go into deep detail. But I was told by multiple sources that there is real concern with what is causing Raley’s elbow inflammation and wonder if he can rehab and pitch through what he is enduring or whether a more significant step such as surgery — perhaps season-ending — might be needed.