It's difficult to imagine a team with a 27-40 record like the New York Mets feeling good about themselves but this is now a confident bunch of baseball players as they get ready for tonight's MLB game against their division rival, Atlanta Braves.

Why are the Mets, one of baseball's worst teams, suddenly changing how they feel? It has something to do with the present, and the future. Yesterday, in what some people are calling "the day everything changed" for the Mets, they sent young pitchers Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler to the mound against the solid Braves lineup. What occurred in Atlanta now gives hope to Mets fans and Mets players, knowing these pitching phenoms look like the real deal.

Harvey struck out 13 Braves in his seven-inning stint while Wheeler, in the second game of the twi-night doubleheader, shut out the Braves over six innings while striking out seven Both pitchers flash 98 mph fastballs and unhittable curve balls, a combination most hitters in the National League are not comfortable with.  

A day after struggling to put the ball in play against the Mets' pitching phenoms, Atlanta takes on the winless Shaun Marcum and looks to avoid losing a series at home for the first time all season Wednesday night.

Marcum (0-8, 5.43 ERA), meanwhile, has fanned just 47 batters in 54 2/3 innings this year. However, the seven-year veteran posted his career high of 12 on May 26 against Atlanta, including three of Freeman. Marcum allowed a two-run homer to Uggla but only three other hits in seven innings of New York's 4-2 victory.

Of the right-hander's 10 appearances -- eight starts -- this season, the only two times New York won came versus the Braves. He's 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA in five career games against them. Johnson and Jason Heyward are each 1 for 12 against him with a combined 12 strikeouts.

Kris Medlen (3-7, 3.09), the Braves pitcher tonight, has been dominant against New York. He's never lost in 16 games versus the Mets, posting a 1.92 ERA, and is 3-0 in six starts against them. He struck out a season-high nine in six innings against the Mets on May 24, allowing three runs in a 7-5, 10-inning victory.