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Perfect timing!

Amid the now-daily reminiscences of the “Miracle Mets” of 1969, the red-hot 2019 Mets open a three-game series Tuesday night in Atlanta. The Braves were New York’s NLCS victim 50 years ago on the way to an unforgettable world championship.

Those ’69 Mets provide a valuable reminder about the importance of focusing on skill sets when handicapping and betting. The team wasn’t highly though of entering the season. It had finished 73-89 the year before, the first time the franchise even had cracked 70 wins in its short existence.

But, that roster was loaded with young stars, particularly pitchers, coming into their own. This wasn’t some Disney story about a dog who hit home runs or angels flying down from the heavens to make plays (though, it’s possible that did happen on Ron Swoboda’s World Series catch).

The 1969 Mets were a National League juggernaut:

They finished with a 100-62 record, seven games better than the NL West champion Braves at 93-69.

They had the best record in the NL against teams at .500 or better according to baseball-reference.com. New York finished 64-50 for a .561 clip. The Braves were just behind at .550.

They had the best road record in the league, with a 60 percent victory rate that outclassed the field.

You could characterize jumping from 73 wins to 100 as a miracle. But, once the Mets had proved for several months that they were really that good, beating Atlanta to win the NL pennant shouldn’t have surprised anyone. New York was tangibly superior.

The Mets had a better run differential (plus 0.6 per game at 3.9 to 3.3, compared to plus 0.4 per game at 4.3 to 3.9), better frontline pitching, and had won eight of 12 regular-season meetings.

That ’69 NLCS would be a quick sweep. New York won 3-0 with a combined 27-15 scoreboard edge. Surprisingly high scoring, but the first two games were played at the “launching pad” in Atlanta.

As bettors evaluate the 2019 playoff chase, it’s important to focus on current lineups, current starting rotations and current bullpens. VSiN talked about the potential “reversal of fortune” for the Mets just before the All-Star break.

It doesn’t matter that the team stunk in the first half of the season because of a horrible bullpen and the offensive anvil of Robinson Cano batting third. Today’s team is better. Though, investors must remember that an in-season schedule shifting from “brutal” to “easy” may be creating illusions about true playoff potential.

Beating up on the Marlins, Pirates and White Sox won’t mean much if the Mets can’t compete with the Braves, Indians and Cubs between now and the end of the month. Do they have the skill sets to do that?

Be sure you monitor betting lines in Atlanta to evaluate how oddsmakers and sharps see this “live” version of the Mets.