There was a time when it will have been nice for the Mets to make the playoffs. Heck, within the despair of a 9-19 May, the Wilpon-ian mantra about playing meaningful games in September had a pleasant ring.
But in some unspecified time in the future, you stop living the season you imagined and are coping with the one actually unfolding. And in that one, the Mets’ mandate modified from ‘It will be great to make the playoffs’ to ‘It will be horrible to miss out.’
Because they began playing so a lot better for an prolonged period to emphasise what was possible.
Since the Braves roster kept decaying with impact player after impact player being lost for substantial periods.
Since the Mets are going to should redo a very good deal of a rotation again in the approaching offseason and who knows if they are going to do in addition to Sean Manaea and Luis Severino again?
Because no team within the majors is having the form of season to make the Mets feel it will be outrageous to win a round or two or …
But that would only occur in the event that they get in.
“Where we’re at, you’re definitely going to be upset in case you don’t make the playoffs, simply because we’re knocking on the door,” Brandon Nimmo said.
There’s that nice line, though, again — between knocking and truly gaining entry. And a 9-5 loss Tuesday night to the Orioles that was bookended by one other poor Jose Quintana start and a ninth-inning defensive blundering sequence that conjured their bumbling 1962 forefathers was disheartening for the Mets. Those bookends of incompetence minimized a four-run eighth inning surge highlighted by a three-run J.D. Martinez homer that briefly energized the 34,225 at Citi Field and brought hope of a stirring comeback from what had been a 7-1 deficit.
As an alternative, it was one other lost day on the schedule — the Mets are right down to 36 games — and one other game lost within the standings.
Carlos Mendoza insisted he was not taking a look at the massive scoreboard in front of him that was revealing over the course of the evening that the Braves were going to beat the Phillies, dropping the Mets now to 2 ¹/₂ games out of the ultimate NL wild card.
He also said there aren’t any plans to remove Quintana from the rotation, though the Mets have lost all 4 of his August starts by which the veteran lefty is 0-3 with an 8.27 ERA after allowing seven runs in five innings.
Quintana, after his twenty fifth start of 2024, insisted he feels strong at 35 and coming off of just 13 starts last 12 months. He talked about this being the best moment to rediscover his stuff and help down the stretch. And, really, there shouldn’t be much maneuverability. Christian Scott is nowhere near a return. Tylor Megill has been meh at Triple-A. The Mets view Jose Butto as just too beneficial within the bullpen.
The Mets should hope the uber-professional Quintana has something left. Because time is so short now that having a malfunctioning piece of the rotation is so rather more problematic than in April or May or June. And, again, this has transformed from a Mets season by which contention was a perk to creating the playoffs is a must.
Baltimore is feeling this too. The Orioles had missed the playoffs six straight seasons, which included probably the most overt tank jobs in MLB history, before winning 101 games last season — their most since 1979 — and the AL East. So this 12 months the Orioles have had expectations and that has made their journey tougher. And Baltimore has needed to navigate while losing three starters — Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells — to elbow surgery and having to position Zach Eflin, 4-0 in 4 starts since his acquisition from Tampa Bay, on the IL.
The Mets, despite their rising playoff probabilities, weren’t as aggressive in getting anyone as achieved as Eflin on the trading deadline. They added, but with their big-picture priorities still in place to not trade any prospects that hurt to maneuver. That was a philosophy hatched when making the playoffs was a pleasant concept.
But as Nimmo noted, “We’ve an excellent opportunity without delay.”
And playing meaningful games in September is not any longer adequate.
There was a time when it will have been nice for the Mets to make the playoffs. Heck, within the despair of a 9-19 May, the Wilpon-ian mantra about playing meaningful games in September had a pleasant ring.
But in some unspecified time in the future, you stop living the season you imagined and are coping with the one actually unfolding. And in that one, the Mets’ mandate modified from ‘It will be great to make the playoffs’ to ‘It will be horrible to miss out.’
Because they began playing so a lot better for an prolonged period to emphasise what was possible.
Since the Braves roster kept decaying with impact player after impact player being lost for substantial periods.
Since the Mets are going to should redo a very good deal of a rotation again in the approaching offseason and who knows if they are going to do in addition to Sean Manaea and Luis Severino again?
Because no team within the majors is having the form of season to make the Mets feel it will be outrageous to win a round or two or …
But that would only occur in the event that they get in.
“Where we’re at, you’re definitely going to be upset in case you don’t make the playoffs, simply because we’re knocking on the door,” Brandon Nimmo said.
There’s that nice line, though, again — between knocking and truly gaining entry. And a 9-5 loss Tuesday night to the Orioles that was bookended by one other poor Jose Quintana start and a ninth-inning defensive blundering sequence that conjured their bumbling 1962 forefathers was disheartening for the Mets. Those bookends of incompetence minimized a four-run eighth inning surge highlighted by a three-run J.D. Martinez homer that briefly energized the 34,225 at Citi Field and brought hope of a stirring comeback from what had been a 7-1 deficit.
As an alternative, it was one other lost day on the schedule — the Mets are right down to 36 games — and one other game lost within the standings.
Carlos Mendoza insisted he was not taking a look at the massive scoreboard in front of him that was revealing over the course of the evening that the Braves were going to beat the Phillies, dropping the Mets now to 2 ¹/₂ games out of the ultimate NL wild card.
He also said there aren’t any plans to remove Quintana from the rotation, though the Mets have lost all 4 of his August starts by which the veteran lefty is 0-3 with an 8.27 ERA after allowing seven runs in five innings.
Quintana, after his twenty fifth start of 2024, insisted he feels strong at 35 and coming off of just 13 starts last 12 months. He talked about this being the best moment to rediscover his stuff and help down the stretch. And, really, there shouldn’t be much maneuverability. Christian Scott is nowhere near a return. Tylor Megill has been meh at Triple-A. The Mets view Jose Butto as just too beneficial within the bullpen.
The Mets should hope the uber-professional Quintana has something left. Because time is so short now that having a malfunctioning piece of the rotation is so rather more problematic than in April or May or June. And, again, this has transformed from a Mets season by which contention was a perk to creating the playoffs is a must.
Baltimore is feeling this too. The Orioles had missed the playoffs six straight seasons, which included probably the most overt tank jobs in MLB history, before winning 101 games last season — their most since 1979 — and the AL East. So this 12 months the Orioles have had expectations and that has made their journey tougher. And Baltimore has needed to navigate while losing three starters — Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells — to elbow surgery and having to position Zach Eflin, 4-0 in 4 starts since his acquisition from Tampa Bay, on the IL.
The Mets, despite their rising playoff probabilities, weren’t as aggressive in getting anyone as achieved as Eflin on the trading deadline. They added, but with their big-picture priorities still in place to not trade any prospects that hurt to maneuver. That was a philosophy hatched when making the playoffs was a pleasant concept.
But as Nimmo noted, “We’ve an excellent opportunity without delay.”
And playing meaningful games in September is not any longer adequate.
