May also featured my first game in attendance this year.

When I last addressed the Mets, they entered May having just slid out of the top spot in baseball - they had the best record towards the end of April but by the time I wrote about them, they were second-best.

I think that was to the Dodgers.

Then they ceded first place in the division to the Phillies.

The Mets have still been way better than I expected to this point, but May has had some down moments.

The Mets lost two of three to the Yankees, and then they lost two out of three to the Red Sox - that was probably the roughest stretch.

No, it was definitely the roughest stretch - that led to criticism of Juan Soto, since he was center stage in the Yankees series and didn’t exactly handle it so great, and then had a couple of instances where he looked like he was giving less than his full effort in Boston.

But that stretch was followed by a series with the Dodgers, in which the Mets took two out of three. That felt good at the time, and it looks even better considering this weekend’s matchup between the Dodgers and Yankees, where LA has just dismantled the Yankees.

And then the Mets were able to make hay - both in the win column and with getting their bats going - with back-to-back series with the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies.

One of the best things about this past month has been seeing Brett Baty coming back to the majors and getting red hot. As Pete Alonso cooled after his hot April and bats like Juan Soto and Mark Vientos have yet to get going (though it looks like the Rockies have helped get Soto back on track), Baty has been a consistent offensive contributor and he has shined on defense. It’s a pleasure to finally see him doing at the major league level what he has been touted as - and performing the way he did at AAA.

Here’s a fun little quirk - even though I’m writing this to post on Monday - after one game in June has been played - I’m going to show you the record through just the end of May, because I wonder how often this has happened: Every team in first place in the National League has the same record. The Mets and Phillies are tied at the top of the East, but the Cubs and Dodgers lead their divisions with the exact same record:

The Mets (and LA, Chicago, and Philly) through May: 36-22

Standings: tied with Philadelphia, 8 games ahead of Washington (28-30)

[And I do need to add for the record that as of the date this is published, the Mets are back in first place, a game ahead of Philadelphia.)