It seemed to me that the Mets were having trouble with games just after a travel day, and Terry Collins mentioned something along these lines about last night’s game, so I looked up their schedule and crunched the numbers.
The Mets are now 5-12 in first games in a new city. This includes trips back home but doesn’t include traveling north for Opening Day. They bounce back in the next game to a 9-7 record that more closely approximates their overall record. They’re 4-8 in first games on the road (including the Yankees away game) which means 1-4 in first games after returning home, and 2-5 in first games of road trips.
Is this statistically meaningful or is it just an oddity? Is there something the Mets could do with their first game prep that could mitigate some of the travel fatigue? Maybe something like spending more time perusing scouting reports and defensive positioning and toning down the physical stuff to conserve strength? I don’t think the value of a good night’s sleep can be overstated. Being rested and alert for a game in which the slightest delay in reaction time can be the difference between failure and success is not something you can fake. (Especially without amphetamines)
I’d be curious as to what the record is for teams on the Monday following their appearances on Sunday Night Baseball overall.