We’re just about at the midway point of the marathon known as the major league baseball season. For all intents and purposes, my fandom effectively hit its nadir this week at the hands of my partner in crime’s personal obsession. The NEW YORK POST’s Bridget Reilly pretty much summed it all up with the recap she dropped in her subscriber’s inboxes via BEYOND THE BACK PAGE earlier this morning:
Check in on the Mets fans in your life… There is no reason to sugarcoat it: It’s been a dumpster fire of a season in Queens.
Mets fans aren’t taking — and can’t take — solace from words anymore. They need action from their team — and those actions may be better directed toward the 2027 season at this point because it seems as if only miracles can save the Amazin’s now.
After Wednesday’s dreadful doubleheader sweep at Citi Field, the Mets (34-46) are 14.5 games behind the Braves for first place in the NL East. It’s not July yet. They’re also nine games back in the race for a wild-card spot in the National League. To get there, they would have to hurdle seven teams, including the Cubs, who beat them 10-3 and 10-5 in the day-night twinbill. The season began with high expectations after the Mets added pricey talent and reworked the clubhouse to get back to another NLCS after completely missing the playoffs in 2025. Everything and nearly everyone has fallen short of those expectations, and a spiral toward a selloff at the trade deadline looms.
So with all hope lost yet again, it’s given me a chance to check in on my fantasy baseball season, the first I’ve played in my lengthy association with the pasttime that has a daily format. That means I’m more dedicated than ever to being aware of injuries, call-ups and scheduling as I seek to compete with much more seasoned and detail-obsessed veterans of such wars.
| Rank | Team | W-L-T | Pct | Div | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Major League |
||||||||
| † 2 |  The Savanna Bazzanas |
10-3-0 | .769 | 3-2-0 | 4755.50 | $30 | 12 | 67 |
| 3 |  Fly The W |
8-5-0 | .615 | 3-2-0 | 4528.00 | $99 | 3 | 78 |
| 4 |  The Emerson Project |
8-5-0 | .615 | 3-2-0 | 4491.00 | $100 | 10 | 66 |
| 7 |  D’z Swingerz |
7-6-0 | .538 | 2-3-0 | 4294.50 | $80 | 4 | 43 |
| 9 |  Eaton Her Posey |
4-9-0 | .308 | 2-3-0 | 4260.00 | $60 | 11 | 62 |
| 10 |  Strikeout Gino |
4-9-0 | .308 | 2-3-0 | 3594.50 | $100 | 1 | 16 |
Rookie of the Year |
||||||||
| † 1 |  Moneyball |
10-3-0 | .769 | 4-1-0 | 5084.00 | $100 | 5 | 77 |
| 5 |  The Lone Hater |
7-6-0 | .538 | 4-1-0 | 4739.00 | $40 | 9 | 63 |
| 6 |  Bangers |
7-6-0 | .538 | 3-2-0 | 4465.50 | $93 | 6 | 44 |
| 8 |  JORGE’s Team |
7-6-0 | .538 | 3-2-0 | 4205.50 | $85 | 8 | 53 |
| 11 |  Native-Cracker |
3-10-0 | .231 | 1-4-0 | 4179.00 | $90 | 7 | 47 |
| 12 |  TN Pearls |
3-10-0 | .231 | 0-5-0 | 4158.00 | |||
As you can see, my results to date are meh. I’m technically qualifying for a wild card playoff spot and hovering around .500. My strategy revolves around having players eligible at multiple positions and representing a number of different teams so as to fill in gaps when teams have off days or games get rained out. On the other extreme, when unexpected doubleheaders occur like this week’s rains in New York caused I’m able to opportunistically take better advantage of those moves when I otherwise wouldn’t. The Cubs’ Michael Busch and the Mets’ Bo Bichette are examples of two up-and-down plays that I might or might not have started in a weekly format that I was able to slide into daily lineups. They both were outsized contributors and are least keeping me within shouting distance of winning a week where my opponent has gotten quite lucky with pitching, which in this league offers a significant risk/reward return for those who get decisions. A quality start win can produce 20-30 points; a bombing can result in a negative 20 point impact. So even though there’s a chance to pick up incremental starters daily–which I’ve done on occasion–I’ve experienced both sides of that and both benefitted and been hurt.
I’m probably gonna be forced to go for broke over the weekend and look into the lees and dregs of potential starters–the goal being to fill your lineup with folks capable of at least getting some points that a typical pitching rotation might not. You’re forced to be more creative and knowledgable about these diamonds in the rough by necessity. Trust me, I otherwise wouldn’t know who the bleep Joey Cantillo, Keider Montero or Luinder Avila are (they’re actually starting pitchers for the Guardians, Tigers and Royals, respectively). But they’ve each turned in quality performances for me of late and made me far more of a fan and student of the American League Central than I otherwise would have been.
If nothing else, they’re providing me with a distraction and a hope that the team I inexplicably choose to root for that once again have given me a viable reason not to off myself once again cannot. And having to commit to a daily visit to the site to finagle my next move is providing a few more at a time when I really need it.
Long live daily fantasy. Baseball, that is.
Courage…