Mets fans constantly live on the edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But what if this year it won’t?
With 7 games remaining this season, the Mets are tied for first place the NL East with the Atlanta Braves. The Mets have led all year, leading by as much as 10 games at one point.
Slowly, the Braves chipped away and got hot, almost a repeat of last year when Atlanta surpassed the Mets and went on to win the World Series.
The Mets revamped their roster during the offseason. They brought in star pitcher Max Scherzer, as well as key bats like Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar. The cherry on top, though: new manager Buck Showalter taking the reins and instilling a better baseball philosophy, and better baseball period, into the club’s method of attack.
During Showalter’s first year at the helm, Francisco Lindor has had a turnaround year and all-star first baseman Pete Alonso set the franchise’s single season RBI record. The Mets, as a whole, have become one of the most feared teams in the MLB; but are the same old Mets still in there?
They currently lead the tiebreaker against Atlanta 9-7. Thus, 1 win in Atlanta this weekend would secure them the 10-9 edge at worst case.
The combination of Met wins and Braves losses required for the division to be clinched is 8. If this “magic number” is dropped to 5 by Friday, the Mets would have to sweep the Braves to become division champs.
High-performing newcomer Chris Bassit will take the mound for the Mets in the pivotal first game. For Atlanta to beat the Mets it will be a tall order. After Bassit, who has a 15-8 record with a 3.27 ERA and 165 strikeouts over 179 innings pitched, the Braves must face multi-Cy Young Award winners Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer.
To have two of arguably the best pitchers go back-to-back is reason enough to say the Mets have this division locked up. However, the Mets this year have a confidence about them that just seems to never go away, no matter how small the division lead gets.
If they win the division, they will get a bye into the second round and will be a tough team to beat because of the pitching they possess.
The collapse of the Mets usually happens around the all-star break. With fortified leadership and an abundance of talent on the roster, it is safe to assume the Mets are going to hold on. But this is baseball, and you play the game first because anything can happen.
Fans on the local front are rooting for both teams to matchup in the playoffs, because who wouldn’t want that? It would surely be an intense and epic series.
First, the Mets must overcome ghosts of the past as they look for their first division title in 7 years, also the last time they appeared in the World Series.
