Darryl Strawberry: Mets must 'continue to push until the end'

Darryl Strawberry certainly knows what it takes to play well in New York. After all, the former top pick went on to win Rookie of the Year in 1983 and help the Mets capture a World Series title in 1986, racking up seven All-Star appearances in eight seasons in New York.

Speaking at his first annual Golf Classic at Glen Head Country Club, Strawberry was asked about the 2023 Mets, and what they need to do in order to break out of their first-half struggles.

“I was down in spring training with them and I saw them and realized that they do have talent. I think the most important thing is having great chemistry and really believing in yourself,” Strawberry said. “New York is a really hard place to play. You can’t let the noise get to you, and I think that’s important for them. It’s been a very challenging season for them, but you can learn from that too. Sometimes you’re going to go through some really ups and downs, rollercoaster rides. We didn’t have a lot of them (in 1986), but that was a different story. They’re having them this year, this season.”

The Mets’ all-time leader with 252 home runs, Strawberry said that this group of Mets, currently in fourth place in the NL East with a 35-42 record and 15.0 games out of first place, simply needs to take things one game at a time to start stacking victories.

After all, with three Wild Card spots in play (and the Mets 8.0 games back of the final spot), there’s still time to shake off the first-half struggles and push toward the postseason.

“I think the most important thing for them to learn is not to give up, not to give up on each other and continue to push until the end,” Strawberry said. “You have a whole second half of the season, you’ve got a Wild Card that’s sitting in front of them, so they have to be thinking along those lines. I don’t know about the division because Atlanta is playing so well and you’ve got to hop over so many teams, but you’ve just got to take it one day at a time, and you’ve got to win ballgames.”

The Mets will attempt to get back on track on Monday night when they begin a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field.