LOS ANGELES — The last time the Mets were in Los Angeles, they were nearly stunned into silence.
Sean Manaea, who started Game 6 against the Dodgers, struggled to find the words to sum up his start as he fought back tears. The relief corps gathered around Adam Ottavino’s locker, reminiscing about better games while drinking beers. Eventually, the crowd around the veteran right-hander’s corner locker swelled. Knowing it was the last time the group would ever be together, they weren’t ready for the season to end.
The season felt like magic from June on, and it only intensified as they rolled through Atlanta and Milwaukee twice, and Philadelphia as they clinched a postseason spot and advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 2015.
Now back in the Southland for the first time since October, it’s almost as if that series never happened. The sting is mild, at best. The clubhouse felt no different Monday afternoon as they prepared to face the World Series champs for the second time in 10 days. The atmosphere was upbeat but focused, just as it always is.
Maybe it’s because the Mets took the series from the Dodgers about a week ago, or maybe it’s because they have one more win in the column than their West Coast rivals. But the biggest reason seems to be that the series loss helped them take a massive step forward as a team.
“It’s a different feeling knowing that you walk in this place, that this is where the season ended, it was kind of like a sour taste,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Monday ahead of the start of the series. “But also understanding that after everything that we went through as a team, to get to the NLCS when nobody thought anything about this team, that we ended up facing the team that ended up winning the World Series.”
The Yankees might have ended up being the team to face the Dodgers in the World Series, but the Mets played them tougher, leading many to make the joke that it was the Amazin’s that deserved the silver medal.
The thing about the current incarnation of the Mets is that they don’t often look back on their less-than-illustrious past. The current team might have a lot of faces that have been with the team for some disastrous seasons, but they’re also some of the same players that keep the clubhouse looking forward.
The Dodgers nearly broke them late last May, but it was a series sweep at their hands that led to a players-only meeting and ultimately, the month that turned around their entire season. Already this season, the Mets jumped out to a hot start and then slumped through May, only to overcome themselves to win that series against Los Angeles. Now, they start the series in first place in the NL East, having won seven of their last eight to move a season-high 15 games above .500.
They have Juan Soto in the lineup, and while he might not be playing like the Soto that faced the Dodgers in the World Series, he’s still a threat and a presence in the lineup. Pete Alonso is an MVP contender already and the Mets own the best ERA in baseball with a pitching staff that struck out Ohtani five times in the first series.
The Mets are a different team and maybe even a better team in part because of that NLCS series against the Dodgers last fall.
“I think there are mixed feelings here, but we’re not trying to look back now, Mendoza said. “I’m just concentrating on today’s game, which is the most important thing. Try to go out there and win a baseball game and then win a series.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Back in New York, Manaea (right oblique strain) threw another up-and-down bullpen Monday afternoon in Coney Island. Facing members of the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones, Manaea threw 29 pitches. The Mets will see how he recovers before making any decisions as to whether or not he’ll need another live BP. Should he recover well, the Mets could send him out on a rehab assignment.
Left-hander Brooks Raley is already throwing live BPs as he works his way back from ulnar collateral reconstruction surgery. Expected to be a key member of the bullpen heading into last season, Raley was injured in an April series at Dodger Stadium last season, leading to an internal brace procedure. The Mets signed him to a one-year contract with an option for 2026, hoping he could contribute at some point this season. So far, he’s on track, expected to go on a rehab assignment in the near future.
ROSTER MOVE
Right-hander Paul Blackburn was activated off the injured list to make his first start of the season Monday. Right-hander Chris Devenski was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster. The Mets will play with a six-man rotation and a short bullpen through the weekend Colorado Series, and potentially again later this month when they start a stretch of 13 games in 13 days.
