The good news?
The Mets are coming home for a six-game homestand.
The bad news?
The Mets are coming home for a six-game homestand.
Not only have they played significantly worse at Citi Field than on the road, but their attendance has dropped precipitously since just last year.
According to Baseball Reference, which generally measures tickets sold, the Mets are averaging just 25,960 fans this season, down from 31,724 a year ago.
They did do better in their last series at Citi Field, drawing over 30,000 for three straight games against the Diamondbacks, but that included a pair of promotional days.
“It’s about winning,” owner Steve Cohen said in London. “Winning solves a lot and frankly that’s what we are going to have to do. New York City is a competitive marketplace. There’s lots to do in New York, and to get fans to come out to the stadium you have got to give them a good product and something to get excited about. We have been spotty about that.”
More worrisome is the fact that they are an abysmal 13-22 at home, compared to 15-14 on the road.
Only the White Sox, Angels and Marlins are worse.
The team’s OPS at Citi Field of .640 is better than only the White Sox.
Jeff McNeil returned to the lineup Sunday and delivered a pair of hits after sitting the previous four games.
The Mets are slated to face two left-handers to open the Marlins series, with Jesus Luzardo scheduled for Tuesday and Braxton Garrett on Wednesday.
But McNeil’s numbers — which have been down all season — are slightly better against lefties than righties.
Jose Iglesias, though, has played well in place of McNeil, and has consistently hit lefties better — including during his brief time with the Mets.
Still, the lefty-swinging McNeil sounded confident he was beginning to turn things around at the plate Sunday.
He hit three balls hard against the Phillies — something he hadn’t been doing of late, and Iglesias had.
Francisco Lindor had multi-hit games in three straight prior to Sunday’s 0-for-5, but he’s been on a tear since May 21.
Over his last 17 games, the shortstop is 25-for-73 with 10 extra-base hits and an OPS of .954, which has bumped his season OPS from .616 to .710.
Starling Marte didn’t play Sunday after making a critical defensive miscue in Saturday’s loss, but Carlos Mendoza said at the time he only wanted to play Marte on the artificial turf once during the two-game series.
Marte’s defense has been an issue throughout the season, but he has an OPS of .879 against lefties this season.
The Mets don’t expect Kodai Senga to return to the rotation until after the All-Star break, but he is expected to return to throwing off a mound this week as he continues to increase his workload following the triceps tightness he experienced late last month that delayed his comeback.
Before getting back to the Mets, Senga still has to face hitters in live batting practice and then go through a minor league rehab assignment.