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It has been 31 years since the New York Mets last won the World Series but only a couple since they played in the Fall Classic, with a 4-1 loss to Kansas City in the 2015 showpiece.
The long-suffering fans will be hoping for return to the season finale this term but, even at such an early stage of the season, it seems as though they will require a wildcard to do so.
Washington Nationals are dominating the National League East and have already moved nearly half a dozen games ahead of the Mets, who have yet to establish a winning record in 2017.
There is still plenty of time to put that right but the recent controversy surrounding pitcher Matt Harvey will hardly have helped matters.
The 28-year-old was suspended for three days for an undisclosed reason, although it has been suggested that he failed to turn up to Citi Field for a game the day before his suspension.
It is not the first time he has fallen foul of club regulations but, with a couple of poor recent outings, it might well give him the jolt he needs to up his game.
As for the other Mets’ pitchers, Noah Syndergaard had been the outstanding starter with an ERA of 3.29 until he was placed on the 60-day disabled list with a shoulder muscle injury.
He has played injury free for the majority of his career but now looks set to miss a number of weeks – a situation that may be terminal to the Mets chances of reaching the post-season.
Jacob deGrom has been solid with a 3.80 ERA but the rest of the front-line hurlers have struggled.
Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman have been below par and manager Terry Collins has already been forced to make call-ups from the minor leagues.
Jay Bruce has been leading the offence with 10 homers and 26 RBIs and is clearly key to the club’s chances of going all the way.
Michael Conforto looks set to get far more game time than in 2016 and has delivered to date, while Neil Walker and Travis catcher Travis d’Arnaud are in double figures for runs batted in.
Yoenis Cespedes has clubbed 66 homers across the past two seasons and has six to his name early in the campaign, but he has now gone down with injury, and there is a sense that the line-up lacks some punch and star quality.
It remains to be seen if they can close the gap on the Nationals in the race for the NL East title and the MLB predictions at Free Super Tips will give all the information on the best prices and markets available for those who like to bet on baseball.
As it stands, Collins’ charges are a couple of games back in the race for a wildcard and so he will need to rally his troops over the rest of the season.
But, with key pitchers struggling and injuries starting to take their toll, it may well be that 2017 is not the season that the Mets break their World Series drought.
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