Former Mets player has interesting take on team’s struggles

A former New York Mets player had some interesting observations after playing his struggling former team over the weekend.

Infielder J.D. Davis, now with the San Francisco Giants, was asked about what might be troubling the Mets after facing them at Citi Field. Davis said he thought the team was playing tight, and pointed out an interaction with Pete Alonso as evidence of that.

“I haven’t been in that clubhouse and talked to that many guys over there,” Davis said, via David Lennon of Newsday. “But there’s a sense of, I wouldn’t say panic, but definitely a sense of walking on eggshells over there.

“I got on first base twice [Saturday] and tried to talk to Pete and Pete was very mumble-mouth and said only a few words. That’s not Pete-like. Pete is very jubilant, a very joyful guy in the clubhouse and on the field. A great guy to play with. As a guy I played with for four years, just to have a 30-second conversation and have a sense that he wasn’t himself. So it definitely takes a toll on you, especially when there’s so much high expectations for that team.”

After a breakout 2019 season, Davis struggled to reproduce that success in his four-season stint with the Mets. He was ultimately traded to the Giants in 2022, where he has enjoyed a career renaissance.

Despite the highest payroll in the league, the Mets enter play Monday with a 38-46 record, in fourth place in the NL East and 18.5 games behind the Braves. It’s easy to understand how that might lead to players — or even the scoreboard operator — pressing, though that is unlikely to help them break out of it.