The safe bet is to wager the past on the future. The Mets have been there before, know what it takes, and have had success. So, parlay 2024 on 2025.
You can bet the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies are watching what the Mets do this week. They would love to see the Mets not make the playoffs.
They know the Mets are a threat to their championship hopes if they get the last wild-card spot.
The Mets will play the Dodgers next week in the NL Wild Card Series. In a short series, the Mets can beat the Dodgers with their offense and Nolan McLean on the mound. If the Amazins’ advance, they would play the Phillies in the NL Division Series. The Phillies lost 10 straight games at Citi Field, including the postseason. You have to like the Mets’ odds against the NL East winners.
But the Mets have to get there, and that’s the hard part.
The Mets suffered a 10-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Wednesday night, but the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks failed to gain a game with respective losses on the same night.
As much as we harp on there’s no margin for error for the Mets, you can say the same thing about the Reds and Diamondbacks. Those teams can’t keep blowing it as they did. Yes, the Mets are only one game ahead of both teams, but time is running out for those teams, just as it is for the Mets.
You still have to like the Mets’ chances of getting the last wild-card spot. They were in the NL Championship Series last year, and still have plenty of winners on that team. They showed why they are the favorite by rallying from a 7-1 deficit against the Cubs and ultimately won 9-7 on Tuesday night.
Their starters’ struggles might obscure it. For the second straight night, a Mets starter was pulled early. Jonah Tong had nothing against the Cubs, giving up five runs in the third inning. He finished the night allowing five runs on seven hits in two innings. The Mets desperately need McLean to be a stopper on Thursday night in the series finale. If he does that, he puts himself in a position to be the Game 1 starter against the Dodgers next week.
A win on Thursday night gives the Mets a better chance of making the playoffs with three games to go against the Marlins in Miami. There’s no doubt the Marlins will be up for the task; the franchise that ended the Mets’ season in 2007 and again in 2008. This year, Miami had a seven-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday night after an 11-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
But let’s not make the Marlins look like the ‘98 Yankees here. The Mets can beat them, and their future hinges on doing just that. But if playoff hopes come down to the last game of the season, David Peterson would be the starter, and it’s hard to like his chances when he has been awful for two months and counting.
The Mets may have to use an opener in this spot. Not a good position for them to be in, and hopefully it doesn’t come down to that.
If the Mets make the playoffs, Carlos Mendoza will have to figure out how to put his three best starters in. McLean seems to be a given. Brandon Sporat should be the second starter. The third starter is up for grabs.
Tong has all but eliminated him from being the Game 3 starter. While he has done okay as a starter in five starts, the moment has been too big for him. The game seems too fast for him. He needs to know how to trust his secondary stuff.
The Mets manager can’t put Peterson back in. Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea are lost causes. Clay Holmes has exceeded his innings workload. Does Mendoza dare start an opener in Game 3?
Despite all that, you have to like the Mets’ chances if they get in. This offense is unstoppable, and perhaps Juan Soto will write his own story as a Met. Yes, Mets fans are antsy, and so is the likely NL playoff opposition. It all makes for a huge weekend ahead, starting with tonight’s game, Mets-Cubs, at 7:40 PM on MLB Network, and the three-game series in Miami — Friday at 7:10 PM, Saturday at 4:10 PM, and Sunday at 3:10 PM.
