Panic button? No need. Mets confident tide will turn

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Before this season, 90 teams in AL/NL history had started a season with at least five consecutive losses. Of those, 87 missed the playoffs. The other three combined to win a single postseason series.

This is the daunting math facing the Mets as they look to rebound from one of the worst five-game starts to a season in franchise history (trailing only their first two campaigns, in 1962 and ’63). A fringe playoff contender on paper entering the season, the Mets have since made things a fair bit harder on themselves.

But the spirited ninth-inning comeback against the Tigers on Thursday that gave Carlos Mendoza his first managerial win was certainly a sign that all is not yet lost.

“It’s baseball. You’re going to go through it,” pitcher Adrian Houser said. “Some teams go on a losing skid in the middle of the year. Right now, we’re just starting off on the wrong foot. We’re not playing terrible. There are some things we can do better, but it’s part of baseball. It’s part of the journey.”

It’s worth considering how much easier it is to make the playoffs these days. While only three Major League clubs started 0-5 and went on to qualify for the postseason, roughly 17% of those 0-5 teams reached 84 wins -- the price of admission for a National League Wild Card team last season. What’s more, nearly all those instances have occurred since 1962, when the schedule stretched to 162 games and the expansion era began. The modern game features a longer runway for teams to make up for early-season issues and more middling clubs to take advantage of.

Perhaps Thursday’s comeback broke the dam for the Mets, who are now 1-5. What’s more, their Wednesday signing of Julio Teheran to a $2.5 million guaranteed contract signaled that, despite their poor start, they’re going to continue pouring resources into this team. It’s still so early.

Plus, there are six playoff teams from each league now, more than ever before in MLB history.

The Mets have no doubt made things tougher on themselves, but more than 96% of the season is still in front of them.

“Two weeks from now, maybe we’ll be on a 10-game, 11-game win streak,” Houser said. “Who knows? It’s baseball.”