In case you’ve been living under a rock, it feels like the sky is falling in Queens when it comes to the Mets. As recently as April 21st, they were 14-7 and in the midst of a successful West Coast road trip.
But since then, things have gotten ugly. They limp back home to Citi Field on Tuesday to start a series with the Tampa Bay Rays after splitting a four-game set with the Washington Nationals. New York enters this matchup with a 20-22 record.
The season is far from over, and while the Phillies are trying to help the Mets by giving them some good juju, the Amazins may have to create it themselves. And the sacrifice might have to be a big one.
That’s right — they need to go back to the original New York Presbyterian jersey ad patch. As a reminder, here’s what it looked like:
We are excited to show off our Amazin' partnership with @nyphospital. pic.twitter.com/fnpAdSMwH5
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 6, 2023
Almost immediately after debuting this terrible-looking thing, Mets owner Steve Cohen said there would be a redesign. He commented that it was “Phillies colors”, and he wasn’t wrong.
A couple of weeks later, New York debuted a new patch. In a perfect world, I wouldn’t want one at all. But I also know that’s not possible anymore. With that in mind, the redesigned patch looks so much better:
The Mets have updated the sponsor patch on their jersey sleeve. pic.twitter.com/8BeLKP2pe3
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 25, 2023
Despite this being easier on the eyes, it clearly has to go, and the proof is in the pudding. In this case, the pudding is the Mets’ win-loss record with both patches (which was pointed out on Reddit).
New York introduced the original Phillies-themed patch ahead of its home opener. Between April 7th and April 24th, manager Buck Showalter’s club went 11-5 in the 16 games it was on their sleeve. They did this against teams like the San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants (as well as bad teams like the Oakland Athletics).
Since debuting the improved patch, the Mets are 6-13 and haven’t won a single series. They only played three of those games against a team with a winning record, too (the Atlanta Braves).
Look, that original patch was horrendous. But if I had to make a choice between looking at that thing and watching the Mets win or watching them look dead in the water with a nicely-designed patch, I’ll take the former.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
