Kallet: Mets Need To Take Advantage Of Gifts They're About To Receive
By Brad Kallet
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Does anybody want the second wild card berth in the National League?
It sure doesn't seem like it.
Despite playing mediocre baseball for the vast majority of the 2016 season, the Mets are still, somehow, in contention for the final postseason spot.
Coming into play on Tuesday, the Mets are 1 1/2 games behind the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals, and only a game and 2 1/2 games in front of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies, respectively.
The Marlins and Cardinals have let the Mets stick around with subpar play of their own, but that won't last forever. All four of the teams "fighting" the Mets for this second wild card berth aren't going to continue playing .500 ball or worse. It's not sustainable. One, and more than likely two, of these teams will eventually rattle off eight of 10 and put some distance between it and the rest of the pack.
An 83- or 84-win team is not going to get into the playoffs. It will inevitably take 87 or 88 victories, even in a down year like this one.
There's nothing to suggest that this Mets team, which looks as lifeless as it did in the first half of last season, has what it takes to go on a run with a significant winning streak.
But with the always challenging Subway Series and a difficult road series against the Tigers in the rearview mirror, an opportunity has presented itself in the form of an extraordinarily favorable schedule.
On Tuesday, the Mets will welcome the last-place Arizona Diamondbacks to town for the opener of a three-game set. When that series wraps up, the 48-63 Padres come in for three more. After the finale against San Diego on Aug. 14, the Mets will head to Phoenix for another three against the D-backs. Arizona and San Diego have a combined 93-129 record, and six of the nine games against those teams are at Citi Field. Even in the Mets' hobbled state, they should take care of those clubs.
So what should manager Terry Collins demand from his team over the next nine days? Seven wins. The Mets must take seven of the next nine; six at a minimum. Anything less is simply unacceptable. If the Amazins' produce that result, they'll be either 64-56 or 63-57 heading into their four-game series against the Giants in San Francisco. Either record would likely put the Mets in a favorable position in the wild card race.
If the Mets can't take three consecutive series from two of the worst teams in baseball, they don't deserve to return to the playoffs.
Once the honeymoon nine-game stretch concludes, Collins will hopefully have Jose Reyes back, with Yoenis Cespedes and Zack Wheeler not far behind. As I wrote last week, if the Mets can tread water until Cespedes returns to pair with Jay Bruce in the middle of the lineup, this team will have a real shot. For all of their injuries, a lineup of Reyes-Curtis Granderson-Cespedes-Bruce-Neil Walker-James Loney-Wilmer Flores-Travis d'Arnaud is still rather imposing. Michael Conforto, who's shown glimpses of his 2015 self over the past week, is another dangerous hitter.
The Mets will play crucial games against the Cardinals and Marlins at the end of the month, and in September they'll have two more series against the NL East-leading Nationals. But for the most part, the remaining schedule is a cakewalk, at least on paper. The Mets have three games against the last-place Reds, three more against the last-place Twins and, in September alone, six games with the Braves and seven against the Phillies (to end the regular season on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2).
The second-to-last series of the regular season, against the Marlins in Miami, could be massive.
Of course, it can't be stressed enough that the Mets can't take any teams for granted right now. They're playing at an extremely low level, and have been for some time. Would it surprise me if they blew this golden chance and drifted into irrelevance? No, it wouldn't. But you play the cards you're dealt, and for the Mets that's been a weak league and a decidedly advantageous late-season docket.
The past is in the past. There's an opening in front of them, and they must take it.
Brad Kallet is the managing editor of TENNIS.com and a frequent contributor to WFAN.com. Follow him on Twitter @brad_kallet
