Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon believes the organization is moving in the right direction and that he is confident in general manager Sandy Alderson’s plan.

Win-loss record for a pitcher is one of the most overrated statistics in baseball. There are better numbers to measure a pitcher’s performance than how many games he wins and losses. New York Mets ace Matt Harvey knows this all too well.

New York Mets top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler is on the verge of the joining the big league club. Wheeler’s much-anticipated major league debut, scheduled for Tuesday in Atlanta, will inevitably bump a pitcher out of the Mets’ starting rotation.

Barring injury, there are currently two candidates competing to avoid being moved to the bullpen at Wheeler’s expense. Those two would be Dillon Gee and Jeremy Hefner.

“Well, if you are going to lose, you might as well lose fast,” is what I remarked to personable Mets catcher Josh Thole following yet another listless loss last year. Thole, who was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in the RA Dickey trade over the winter, quickly replied with a smile “You got that right!”

I was thinking of that exchange with Josh after watching the Mets lose 2-1 in 20 innings to the Miami Marlins last Saturday at Citi Field. The extraordinary length of the game was not the main story. The galling headlines were that the Mets went 0 for 19 with runners in scoring position and struck out 19 times against pitchers who were not exactly the second coming of Sandy Koufax, Juan Marichal and Bob Gibson.

These days, the New York Mets are not having any trouble finding new and creative ways to lose. Even by their impressive standards, this past weekend’s series against the Miami Marlins was unprecedented.

In 30 innings over two days, the Marlins swept a two-game series from the Mets at Citi Field. To put into perspective just how bad things have gotten for the Mets, the Marlins are 8-3 against them and 10-41 against the rest of baseball this season. That’s telling.

by Lloyd Carroll

Though the All-Star Game is still about five weeks away, there has been quite a lot of hoopla already about New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey starting the game. But here is something to ponder – is it conceivable to believe if the National League is leading in the ninth inning that Bobby Parnell would be asked to close?

After all, Parnell, 28, has gone from answering questions about his reliability as a major league closer to whether he’s good enough to be on the National League All-Star squad in next month’s game.

Ruben Tejada will be out of commission for the Mets, rehabilitating his injured right quadriceps at the team’s minor-league complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Despite a disappointing start to the season for the oft-scrutinized Tejada, he shouldn’t be lost in the shuffle when he’s ready to come off the 15-day disabled list. It’s way too early for the team to give up on their promising shortstop.

O-M-Gee, for the first time since the Subway series began in 1997, the Mets have swept a season series from the Yankees.

With Zack Wheeler still presumably on the brink of joining the big league club in mid-June, a starter will have to be dropped from the rotation, and – barring injury – Dillon Gee appeared to be the odd man out entering his start in the series finale Thursday night at Yankee Stadium. In fact, manager Terry Collins informed Gee face-to-face that he was headed for the bullpen if he didn’t take a significant step forward. Apparently, the 27-year-old Gee got the message loud and clear.

The NBA Draft Lottery held last week at the Disney Studios in Times Square determined the order of selection in the 2013 NBA Draft, scheduled for June 27 at the Barclays Center. The participants were all from NBA clubs that did not qualify for the playoffs, which meant that for the first time in years, neither the Knicks nor Nets were involved. Nevertheless, there were a number Queens-related stories.

Ernie Grunfeld, the greatest basketball player in Forest Hills High School history, was at the lottery as president of the Washington Wizards. Ernie has the unique perspective of having been a former first-round draft choice himself, as he was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1977, and now is in the position of selecting a player for that honor. I asked him about his memories of being selected by an NBA team after finishing his four years at the University of Tennessee.

With a stadium named in his honor at the National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, jazz and entertainment legend Louis Armstrong’s name has long been associated with the sport.

But with the Major League All-Star Game coming to Flushing this year for the first time in 49 years, the museum in Armstrong’s former Corona home is calling attention to Satchmo’s passion for baseball in an exhibit that will run through August.

The New York Mets were so fed up with the struggles of Ike Davis and Ruben Tejada that they were prepared to demote the duo to Triple-A Las Vegas after Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees, according to multiple reports.

Faced with the pressure on Wednesday night of playing for their roster spots, both delivered keys hits in yet another shocking victory over the crosstown rival Yankees.

There has been an ongoing debate about how the New York Mets will alter their starting rotation when Zack Wheeler, the team’s top pitching prospect, makes his much-anticipated debut – probably sometime next month.

Two of the team’s current five starters – Matt Harvey and Jonathon Niese – aren’t going anywhere. On Sunday night, Shaun Marcum, 31, took a step in the right direction to add his name to that list.

Ay Yi Y-Ike Davis.

Whether the New York Mets decide to send first baseman Ike Davis to the minor leagues or not, it’s not going to make much a difference in the grand scheme of things.

The Subway Series, which gets underway on Monday at Citi Field and concludes Thursday at Yankee Stadium, is a great way to take stock of our two Major League Baseball franchises. Last June the Mets dropped five out of six games against the Yankees, which served as a warning that their supposed terrific first half when they won 46 games was a mirage.

This year the Mets are not teasing their fans, as they have been playing at the low level that was expected of them before the season began. The Yankees, on the other hand, have been near or at the top of the American League East standings despite the loss to injuries of such household names as Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texeira and Curtis Granderson. Granderson has returned to the team but was replaced on the disabled list by veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte.

In a season full of disappointments, one of the few bright spots for the New York Mets has been the emergence of closer Bobby Parnell.

Parnell, who was named the team’s closer in spring training after Frank Francisco was diagnosed with a mild strain of the flexor pronator in his right elbow, has recorded six saves.

While baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, there’s no need to have swung a bat in your life to recognize iconic baseball parks across the U.S. Baseball became a national sport in the 1850s but the turn of the 20th century brought construction to what many Americans deem the most important baseball stadiums in history – including the Red Sox stomping grounds and the most expensive stadium ever built: Yankee Stadium. Whether you opt for the peanuts or Cracker Jack, there’s no doubt you will enjoy the game at one of these famous baseball parks in America.

While baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, there’s no need to have swung a bat in your life to recognize iconic baseball parks across the U.S. Baseball became a national sport in the 1850s but the turn of the 20th century brought construction to what many Americans deem the most important baseball stadiums in history – including the Red Sox stomping grounds and the most expensive stadium ever built: Yankee Stadium. Whether you opt for the peanuts or Cracker Jack, there’s no doubt you will enjoy the game at one of these famous baseball parks in America.

It’s been 30 years since the New York Islanders won their last Stanley Cup, and frankly, they have been abysmal for most of the years between 1983 and now. During this labor-dispute-shortened National Hockey League season, the Islanders played respectably enough to earn their first playoff berth in seven years as they clinched the eighth and final spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders drew the unenviable assignment of playing Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the Pittsburgh Penguins, long an NHL powerhouse, in the first round. To their credit, the Isles showed that they weren’t merely happy to be there, as they battled hard to force the series to six games. Unfortunately for the Isles, they lost two overtime games at the Nassau Coliseum, including Saturday night’s finale.

Matt Harvey’s emergence as perhaps the best pitcher in Major League Baseball took another leap forward Tuesday night during the Mets’ victory over the Chicago White Sox.

It’s long been said that pinch-hitting is one of the most difficult things to do in baseball. But Mets utility man Jordany Valdespin has mastered it through his first one-plus seasons in the big leagues.

Of Valdespin’s 10 career home runs, six have come as a pinch hitter.

Jets fans, who are notorious for booing any player their team selects at the NFL Draft, broke into thunderous cheers at Radio City Music Hall Friday night upon hearing that Gang Green had chosen Geno Smith. The reason for this euphoria was the belief that beleaguered Mark Sanchez’s days as a Jet were numbered.

I hate to spoil the fans’ fun, but the Jets would be better off having Smith learn the NFL by watching the action and holding a clipboard this year the way that Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady and so many other greats did in their first pro season.

Howard Megdal is the Mets beat writer for The Journal News, serving as the lead writer for the paper’s Mets blog, Mets.LoHudBlogs.com. In addition, Megdal is the author of “Wilpon’s Folly: The Story of A Man, His Fortune and The New York Mets,” in which he chronicles the financial and legal difficulties of the team’s owners.

I recently had the chance to interview Megdal, where he gave his assessment of this year’s team, talked about which Met has the most upside and estimated how many wins this year’s team could have, if all goes well. You can follow Megdal on Twitter @HowardMegdal.

When the New York Mets hired Terry Collins to be the team’s manager Nov. 23, 2010, I remember the first thing I said to myself was, “Who?” Then, after doing some research, I thought to myself, “Really?” “This is who general manager Sandy Alderson has tabbed to be the team’s new skipper?”

It’s unlikely that the Mets will be playing meaningful games this coming September, but starting pitcher Matt Harvey has singlehandedly given the Flushing faithful a commodity they have lacked for a long time — hope.

Harvey was the Mets’ top pick (seventh overall) in the 2010 Major League baseball amateur draft. Of course, given the team’s checkered history with “can’t miss prospects,” it’s understandable to take a wait-and-see attitude. He came up for the proverbial cup of coffee with the Mets in August 2012 and was far more impressive than his three-win, five-loss record showed.