The New York Mets have now recovered their form after a brutal slump last month, and they are back on top of the NL East with a 1.5-game cushion over the Philadelphia Phillies to boot after a three-game sweep of the falling San Francisco Giants. With a record of 62-44 on the season, and 7-3 over their last 10 ballgames, the Mets are sitting pretty — with some room for improvement heading into the trade deadline.

But this Mets team has very high standards. They know the level they must play at on a consistent basis if they were to contend for a World Series title, and starting pitcher Kodai Senga is certainly taking these high standards to heart. Despite allowing just three runs in five innings of work, the 32-year-old is his own harshest critic, saying that he has to clean up some of the poor pitches he threw against the Giants.

“Just a lot of uncompetitive pitches, those don’t help. If I can minimize those, it’s going to help moving forward,” Senga told reporters following the Mets’ win through his translator, via SNY on X (formerly Twitter).

Senga indeed wasn’t as locked in as he usually has been this season on Sunday. Only 55 of his 92 pitches went for strikes, and he walked five batters while striking out just three. His command was wayward, although at the very least, it did not cost the Mets, as they went on to score a few late runs to wrestle back the lead away from the Giants.

Prior to this start, Senga had an ERA of 1.79 on the season. His peripherals suggested a bit of a regression to the mean, and perhaps this was what happened on Sunday. Senga certainly has not been at his best for the Mets since the All-Star break, but he’s eager to clean up the mistakes he made.

Mets are hitting their stride

The Mets have had the best record in the MLB thus far since the All-Star break, winning seven of their past nine games during that span. They have a squad that can go all the way, which should encourage team president David Stearns to be a bit aggressive in acquiring some upgrades, particularly in center field and in the bullpen, prior to the trade deadline.

They did push the Los Angeles Dodgers to six games in last year’s NLCS, and they have a much-improved roster this time around. It would be a missed opportunity if they were to rest on their laurels.