The Mets have won five in a row, are just 1.5 games back of a playoff spot, and enter the week with a much different tone and feel than the one they had just two short weeks ago.
Despite being 11 games under .500 at one point this season, New York has quickly made up ground, and while there are still several teams to leapfrog in order to get into that final Wild Card spot, there is plenty of time left in the season to make it happen.
Morash says Mets fans can thank Rob Manfred and the owners for that.
“If this was five years ago, we definitely would have given up on the Mets…they would have been done,” Morash said. “This is exactly what Major League Baseball had in mind.
“The more markets that feel like they’re eliminated, the more that people check out on baseball…much like the NFL, where you might look around and go ‘How is a 7-9 team still alive for the playoffs?’ that’s the version of what you’re getting with the Mets, and they shouldn’t apologize to anybody for that. Baseball’s rules and new playoff format allowed the Mets to survive what was a terribly ugly start, a long IL stint for Francisco Alvarez, and now they’re back.”
The addition of a third Wild Card team has had exactly the impact that owners were hoping for. More teams in the race further into the season in an effort to keep more eyes on those teams, and more fans in the seats during the dog days of August and down the stretch in September. The Mets have a great shot to be the beneficiary of the expanded postseason, which began in 2022 when New York was one of the Wild Card teams, only firmly in the race that season thanks to finishing with 101 wins.
These Mets won’t win 101 games in 2024. They likely won’t come close, but they won’t need to. In that 2022 season, the rival Phillies won less than 90 games and made it to the World Series. The following year, the Diamondbacks won less than 85 games and reached the Fall Classic.
So, for Mets fans, Morash says the big question is whether or not you believe that these Mets can replicate those recent improbable playoff runs. Unfortunately, Morash doesn’t see it.
“To believe in that would mean that you believe that this team would have to feel more magical of a playoff team than the Diamondbacks of last year and the Phillies the year before,” Morash said. “The Diamondbacks started the year well, and the Phillies didn’t, but even at this time, they were still four games above .500.
“Sometimes a five-game win streak in a 162-game season is just that…truthfully, I look around, and I think this is the most fun part of the Mets season you will see all year.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0