Despite the loss last night here in San Diego, the playoffs are still very much within the reach of the New York Mets. As you al know, this team was 22-33 a few months ago and are now 67-62 which means since that low point they are 16 games over 500 and that has put them back in the playoff conversation.
In the present 3 wild card format in this sport, I think you are not chasing teams as much as you are chasing a win total. And last year the 2 final NL wild card teams had 84 wins. So I really believe 86 wins would get this team a playoff spot. That means the Mets need to go 19-14 in the final 33 games to nail down a spot. And that is certainly within their reach.
They are in the middle of a second straight road trip and have kept themselves in the race despite extensive travel between sites. The other thing that benefits the Mets is that they hold the tiebreaker over most of the teams in the playoff hunt including these Padres and should they take 2 of 3 in Arizona they clinch the tiebreaker vs he D’backs. The Brave tiebreaker will be resolved by that series the teams have in Atlanta in the final week of the season.
Right now the Braves own a 2 and a half game lead over the Mers but as I said, that 86 win total is the stat to remember. From a team perspective, this lineup is deep and can beat you in a number of ways. The rotation is not spectacular but very efficient and Edwin Diaz looks back to his dominant self with the lead up hurlers to Diaz running hot and cold these days. However, there is enough there to get the job done.
The day to day in a playoff race runs the fanbase hot and cold and that is certainly understandable but the big picture should always be in focus. And the short term right now is stay within a game or 2 of the Braves by the end of this trip. And who knows if they can cut the 7.5 lead the Phils have over them in the division to 4 or 5 games by the time they meet in mid-September for the first of 7 times more than the wild card could be in reach.
All the Mets should be concerned is taking care of business on this trip and things will work out. The focus is each night carve out a good game and get to that 86 win total by the end of the season. If they do that, The Mets WILL be a playoff team.