Mets are in the playoffs in principle before October

Mets are in the playoffs in principle before October

The Mets are in the midst of a best-of-three week in which they are trying to fight for a best-of-three, wild card series. They are playing as close to playoff games as there are in September in an attempt to play the real stuff in October.

And they perform as a team with a purpose and excellence towards the goal. They found out a few hours before Saturday’s game that Jeff McNeil had suffered a small fracture of his wrist and would be out of the regular season.

Buck Showalter often said that the season doesn’t end to solve your problems — that no one is going to feel sorry for you. And his Mets manager successor, Carlos Mendoza, noted how much McNeil’s offensive resurgence in the second half had helped, but also: “Every team has injuries, and guys are going to have to continue to step up their game.”


Edwin Diaz shakes hands with Francisco Alvarez after ending the Mets' 4-0 win over the Reds on September 7, 2024.
Edwin Diaz shakes hands with Francisco Alvarez after ending the Mets’ 4-0 win over the Reds on September 7, 2024. AP

That’s what Jose Iglesias did — on his first day as a regular second baseman. His arrival, along with Luis Torrens in late May, helped transform the Mets’ defense from a liability to an asset as the season progressed. As if to underscore the point, Iglesias and Francisco Lindor combined in the second and third innings to turn double plays that were balletic — baseball’s version of Magic Johnson or Jason Kidd orchestrating scenic fast breaks.

The first one in particular, which began with Iglesias sliding to his left to catch a grounder from Jonathan India and then spinning to his right to serve Lindor, who fielded a low throw over the bag before laying the ball at first base, was a feat of craftsmanship.

“That sets the energy for the tone of the game,” Bader said of the duo who committed the twin murders.

Jose Quintana is a contact-heavy starter who needs impeccable glovework behind him, and he got it early in the rush. It saved him runs and pitches, allowing him to make an appearance in the seventh inning. It kept the Reds off the board long enough for the Mets to weather five one-hit shutout innings from Cincinnati opener Jakob Junis. The Mets hit four runs in the sixth inning en route to a 4-0 victory, giving them their first nine-game winning streak since April 2018.

The only other two times they had a nine-game winning streak, including games in September, was in 1969, when they reached their first ever playoff spot and ultimately the championship. Now there is a growing sense of amazing possibility around this club.


Francisco Lindor celebrates with teammates after scoring a run in the sixth inning during the Mets' victory.
Francisco Lindor celebrates with teammates after scoring a run in the sixth inning during the Mets’ victory. Noah K. Murray / New York Post

The Mets entered this tear four games behind Atlanta for the final NL wild card and with a 13.1 percent playoff chance (Fangraphs). They now trail the Braves by one game and just half a game behind the Diamondbacks for the second wild card — with the wild card-leading Padres still within reach.

“I hate looking at the scoreboard this early in the month, but every game matters down the road,” said Phil Maton, who has made three playoff appearances in the last four seasons. “You don’t want to get to that last run of the year and think, ‘Man, if we could have won a game here or a game there, we’d be in a different position right now.'”

The Mets aren’t going to win, but they’ve won enough now that “we’re in a way (in the playoffs now),” said Francisco Lindor, whose 28 postseason games are second among current Mets behind J.D. Martinez’s 33. “It’s not exactly the same atmosphere as the playoffs, where you get that moment at the beginning to start fresh. But we’re in that position where every day, every game, every inning matters and that’s playoff baseball.”

That’s why everything is so sensitive, from the loss of McNeil to monitoring Kodai Senga (calf), who threw a bullpen again Saturday. He’s eligible to return from the 60-day injured list on Sept. 25, the middle of a three-game series in Atlanta that feels like a collision course for this year and the Mets’ tortured history against the Braves. The Mets are hoping Senga can serve as a three- or four-inning opener in the closing days of the regular season and then perhaps a playoff series.

But then again — as much as that Braves series looms — the Mets have business here and there. Not long ago, the NL wild-card race was a .500-ish snarl. But contenders like the Reds fell away, and the lingering belief that this season would be like the last, when two 84-win teams (Arizona, Miami) made the playoffs, is gone. It may take 90 wins to even be the third wild card.

“It’s four teams in a wild-card kind of bunch,” Maton said. “It’s not an absolute do-or-die every night, but it’s pretty close. Any little bit of leverage you can get in the final stretch is pretty important. I hate to call a series, but that Atlanta series (the second-to-last of the year) is coming up and it’s going to be a huge series for us, so it’s important that we have some momentum going into that series.”