You know the old baseball saying: The team that has the sixth-best record in the league, assuming it’s at least the third-best non-first place record in that same league, is a lock to go to the postseason. And if it’s not an old saying, let’s repeat it enough so it becomes one.
Congratulations to our ceaselessly beloved 2024 New York Mets, in whom we’ve never expressed a scintilla of doubt, for moving into playoff position with a mere 70 games to go in the regular season. Keep winning, and this thing is in the bag.
If the playoffs started today…alas they do not.
Who would engage the services of one of those MLB-approved tout services that advertise during broadcasts and bet against these Mets right now? Right now, they’re barely stoppable. Against the Washington Nationals this week, rolling through Thursday afternoon, they were truly unstoppable, sweeping away the perpetually pesky Nats in their series at Citi Field and adding an exclamation point by shutting them out in the finale.
That part was particularly nice, considering the Mets hadn’t shut out anybody all year. The zero drought hadn’t gone on long enough to develop into an albatross, but it was getting there. All it required to become a trend was its continuation. The Mets hadn’t no-hit anybody for 91 games in 1962. The next thing you knew, we were waiting 50 years for our first no-hitter.
By the time mopup man Adam Ottavino was called on to not give up a run in the top of the ninth — he did everything but — the bottom-line result was as secure as one could hope. The Mets were up, 7-0, which indicates eight innings of superb pitching supported at some point by robust hitting. The Mets did their scoring in two frames — five runs in the fifth, another pair in the eighth. Brandon Nimmo, apparently one of the best players to never be recognized by any awards voter in any realm ever, delivered the key blow, as Brandon Nimmo has been doing most every game. The Mets loaded the bases in the fifth in that admirable way they have when they’re being their best. Their backup catcher Luis Torrens doubled off MacKenzie Gore to lead off, vouching for depth that attests to the ability to give Francisco Alvarez an occasional blow. Beleaguered Jeff McNeil, who has fallen so far in popular esteem that one could discern a collective sigh from Flushing when it was realized Jose Iglesias was not available to play second base Thursday, gritted out a walk. OMG, the Squirrel still has some life left in his bushy tail. Superstar who avoids being chosen for games with stars in them Francisco Lindor also worked a walk, one of those acts of patience and selflessness that tingles our spine when it means a rally is gaining tumescence.
Then Nimmo goes Wham-O, with a dart of a double to the center field wall that brings in all three baserunners. Brandon had homered in the three preceding games, but this half-a-homer seemed more authoritative than any of his dingers. Home run streaks are freaks of nature. Hard hitting that finds gaps just keeps coming. Getting Nimmo across the plate would make the inning that much better…and, would ya look at that? J.D. Martinez drove him home, and Pete Alonso did the same solid for Martinez.
David Peterson was making his 72nd career start Thursday. The first 71 indicated little definitive about his future, other than to hint that once you’ve been on the scene quite a while taking semi-regular rotation turns and it’s still not certain what to make of you or your role, you have tangibly less future than you used to. Peterson has been around since 2020, the season none of us went to the ballpark to watch him pitch. On the current active roster, only Nimmo, McNeil and Alonso predate him. He’s coming up on his 29th birthday, transmitting a perceptible signal that calling him one of our “young starters” is a misnomer. He’s been in and out of the Mets plans for five seasons now, judged neither discardable nor indispensable. Good starts. Bad starts. Indifferent impressions. As a first-round draft choice, he didn’t have the benefit of sneaking up on anybody. As a perennial contingency option every season dating back to the COVID campaign, he hasn’t overwhelmed opposing hitters, let alone organizational decisionmakers.
In his 72nd career start, David Peterson pitched for the first time like he was an indisputably vital component of the New York Mets staff. The circumstances demanded it. On July 11? We can read a calendar, but the same ballclub reasonably left for dead in late May had revived itself to the point where it could pass every also-ran and move, if only for a day, into position to look down on all of them. Once he was staked to a 5-0 lead, Peterson had to hold it in place. Had to pitch one more scoreless inning. He’d struggled a bit earlier, but had righted himself with no runs permitted. He’d outlasted Gore. Now he’d have to outlast the Nat bats altogether. The Mets would be eligible to win if Peterson went only 5.1 IP, or had he let the score become 5-2, but this wasn’t a day for dithering or dilly-dallying. Shut out Washington in the sixth. Post a sixth zero. Establish yourself as best you can amid the more veteran starters Quintana, Severino and Manaea, who aren’t about to be dislodged; the rookie Scott who hasn’t given anybody a reason to return him to Triple-A; and the nearly rehabilitated Senga, who is on track to pitch in the majors again soon (no, really). Do everything you can to make sure that when this day is done, the Mets are a playoff team, never mind that the playoffs are more than two-and-a-half months away. Do all that, and you’re locking yourself into everybody’s plans in these parts.
David Peterson did what he had to in the sixth on Thursday. He threw three ground ball outs around a single walk and didn’t give up a run. He kept the Mets ahead, 5-0, as did bullpen import Phil Maton for an inning, as Maton gave us hope that he can be this summer’s version of Rick White. We needed more relief help in July of 2000. We need more relief help every July. That July, we had our eyes on the postseason. We don’t always look that far down the road. We acquired White from the Rays when they were the Devil Rays. White, among others, pitched us into October and acquitted himself there splendidly. Erstwhile Ray Phil put down a marker of his own with a spotless seventh. Danny Young didn’t display his stealth magic in the eighth, but Dedniel Nuñez did. Another zero. Two more runs came around in the bottom of the inning to make the Met lead surely immune to implosion. Then Otto came on to test that assessment. Lord knows he did what he could to poke holes in budding presumptuousness, loading ’em up with one out and compelling the simultaneous loosening of Edwin Diaz and tightening of our chests. We were pretty sure we were gonna win. But we really wanted that shutout.
Adam reached down to remember he’s no mopup man at heart. He struck out James Wood looking and Jesse Winker swinging. Ottavino escaped any damage. The Mets, 7-0 victors, left behind the notion they can’t shut out any opponent. They also rose .001 above the pack that crams the also-running portion of the Wild Card derby.
Sixth-best record in the league. Third-best among teams not in first place in one of the three divisions. There was a time that and correct fare would get you on the subway. These days, it could very well take you for a ride on the express track.
Any unknowable combination of Mets wins and other NL teams losses totaling near infinity will allow the Mets to capture a coveted and Manfred endorsed “every team gets a trophy” Wild Card slot. How exciting! “Fasten your seatbelts” as Bob Murphy used to say. I suppose you could call it a Sub-Pennant race.
I wouldn’t call it that considering that the 2023, 2022, and 2019 NL pennant winners were wildcards, and in 2021, the NLCS loser was a wildcard.
“Third-best among teams not in first place in one of the three divisions.”
More importantly, we’re up on all of our pursuers (even the one trailing by %) in the loss column. Yes, we are in control of our own destiny, all we have to do is win the next 70 and we can’t be caught.
I’m enjoying the Brandon Nimmo, “I shoulda been an all-star” tour. Hoping it continues the next few days. And I don’t know how the Nats don’t score in the 9th – 2 wild pitches with a man on 3rd? If Ottavino was going to call on the forces of darkness I wish he’d saved it for a 1-run game in September.
Maton is interesting. When we got him I looked at his career – and 2024 – stats and mentally shrugged. Seemed like more of what we already have. Then I looked at his game log over the past dozen or so. Could this be the year someone accidentally sprinkled some pixie dust on his arm and we benefit? Hopeful me wants to say yes.
Same, as far as looking at Maton’s game log. It looks better than his season stats. Same goes for his 2023 game log and stats. A few days Maton doesn’t have it, which runs up his ERA. Most days he does. His post-season track record, especially last year, is excellent. It doesn’t hurt that his last 2 stops were with the Astros and Rays pitching programs (notwithstanding that Diekman was with the Rays last year).
We’ll see. He looked sharp yesterday. Hopefully, 4 months from now, we’ll marvel at nabbing Maton so cheap as a Rays cast-off, like the bullpen equivalent of the Torrens pick-up.
Ottavino’s scoreless ninth was a magic trick. He sawed the lady in half, set her on fire, unloaded a shotgun blast at her – and she popped out without a scratch!
Brandon Nimmo, All-star Snub (aka ASS), has been really fun to watch.
All these comments are smart, witty, funny, smart, and witty (especially those of our proprietor).
When mopup man Eeyore (thanks, Jason) came into this game with that perpetual hang-dog look, he had me wishing the guys who mop up Citi Field would be taking the mound instead.
These guys are making us feel unbeatable, and all because of a single lousy thousandth of a percentage point.
As far as Peterson and his age, Lugo and Wheeler were late bloomers, too. Like them, Peterson has shown flashes, and if he’s starting to put it together now, hopefully the team will give him more time and opportunity to put it together for the Mets.
I liked the strike ’em out, throw ’em out double play because the Mets couldn’t throw out anyone earlier this season. Now it seems like Mets catchers, especially Torrens, are gunning down steal attempts at 50% or better, and opponents are trying to steal a lot less. It shows this team working to improve in season, and their work is paying off.
It could be the Mets are just taking their turn grabbing hold of a wildcard before they drop it in the scrum and someone else grabs it for a bit before they drop it and the Mets grab it again. Of course, barely a month ago, the Mets weren’t in the wildcard scrum, so that’s an improvement. If the Mets can tighten their hold and rise above the scrum, the Braves are only 4 games up on them.
yea, we may lose the wildcard spot here and there over the following 70, but as i commented a week or two back, we may well be within striking distance of the braves when next we meet. gain 2 games on them by then and we can sweep them behind us in the standings.
lindor (superstar not among the the games with stars in them indeed!) is playing such inspired ball (after an april and may of me asking “how many more years are we stuck
with him??” ) and his team meeting may be this season’s flores (non)trade.
this team has a soul and vibe and perhaps a mix of luck and dark energy. hopefully the dreaded (by me at least) all-star hiatus doesn’t veer this thing off course.
another month of *this* and things will be very, very interesting.
You beat me on the Braves point by 4 minutes! Atlanta’s record since May 1 is exactly .500–2 1/2 months is a pretty big sample size. They’ll need to do something a lot bigger than Eddie Rosario by the deadline. (Which, of course, they likely will.)
great minds think alike…and as in baseball, timing can be everything:0]
I was thinking recently that this season had begun to feel a little like 2019–a September to kind of remember. The big difference: that team’s turnaround began much later–they were still 11 under .500 on July 24. Even with that late recovery (and Díaz’s disastrous season), it took a 20-7 September from the Brewers to keep them from the playoffs.
Sure, 70 games to go in this season–plenty of time for this team to find a new way break its fans’ hearts. But they’re two games over .500 on July 12, and–shockingly–only 4 games behind Atlanta for the top wild card spot. I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying every minute of this for as long as it lasts.
Is it just me, or did Ottavino look like he wanted to be anywhere other than the mound at Citi Field?
personally i thought he was looking to pitch himself into a role as pitching coach.
he sure wriggled out of trouble though!
in the pre-team meeting /(vientos/iglesias/torrens) era this would have been one of those gut-punching losses that can wreck a season.
the rest of the team looks very happy to be on the field, home or away.
“ The team that has the sixth-best record in the league, assuming it’s at least the third-best non-first place record in that same league, is a lock to go to the postseason. ”
Doesn’t have the same resonance as, say, “Ya gotta believe,” but I’ll go with it.
Now that we have the third wild card position, with roughly a 50% chance of making the playoffs, it is time raise the regular-season goal: The Braves are only 4.5 games ahead of the Mets–why not take aim at them and the first wild card spot, securing home field for the wild card series?
scroll up.
we’re on it.
if/when we pass the braves we can aim higher still
this team rakes, and we may see senga raise the ante. before long.
happy friday mets fans!
Normally I’d say homefield advantage isn’t important beyond that it’d be nice for the fans, but with this bullpen, having last ups could make a difference.
Hey people!!!!!
Good mood and good luck to everyone!!!!!