MILWAUKEE — The Mets are ticketed to play two to four more regular-season games heading into Saturday night's matchup here in what should be one of the most unusual and perhaps unfortunate season finishes ever. is. On paper it looks like they have a good chance of making the playoffs (more on that later), but whatever the result, whether it's a 2, 3 or 4, they have more at stake than the game. be.
1. The Mets played badly in the first few games of their most important road trip (but believe it or not, the combinations and permutations still work in their favor to some degree). It's hard to believe, but they could win here, but thanks to a tiebreaker win over the similarly struggling Diamondbacks, they can't get eliminated before being eliminated.
2. Renowned hitting whiz J.D. Martinez fell to 0-for-35 in his last 35 at bats on Friday after a pop fly off the glove of Brewers second baseman Bryce Turan was ruled an error. (Martinez was out of Saturday's lineup).
3. Francisco Lindor appeared to be in pain despite recording two hits in his first full game in two weeks. Shorts aren't easy right now because bending over is uncomfortable.
“The pain will come and go, so I'm happy with this,” Lindor said after the Mets lost Game 1, 8-4, to a Brewers team that looked good. (The Mets noticed that, too, with Lindor serving as the DH on Saturday.)
4. They can't stop Milwaukee's running game. On Friday, the Brewers hit six bases, as the Mets scrambled to contain the speediest team in baseball (Turan, Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins look like three-quarters of an Olympic sprint team). Needless to say, he added points with two wild pitches and a passed ball.
5. Francisco Alvarez is also struggling. He was sidelined with back spasms and although he felt “much better,” the team replaced him in the lineup on Saturday with Luis Torrence, acquired from the Yankees for pocket change ($100,000).
6. Their pitching is likely to be in disarray, as they will likely have to play a game or two in the South, unless a combination of three Mets wins and a D-backs loss avoids a return to Atlanta. Manager Carlos Mendoza admitted he considered removing starting pitcher Sean Manaea on Friday after falling behind 5-0 early on, hoping to save a bullet.
One big plus is that if both teams have already qualified and seeding is the only thing left to decide, there would be no need to return to Atlanta on Monday. Remarkably, as of Saturday afternoon, while they still have a chance to clinch a playoff spot here, they don't have anything positive to offer on this trip beyond defeating Hurricane Helen in Atlanta. Even though it didn't happen, I couldn't afford to lose here.
On a positive note, Martinez, who ranks with Hall of Famers Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and Wade Boggs for career 131+ OPS, hasn't had a hit in about a month. Mendoza inserted him into the lineup after not starting all week. However, after suffering another 0-fer, he returned to the bench.
“I thought it felt good tonight…” [but] The proof is in the pudding,” Martinez admitted.
The Mets offense is now turned upside down. The biggest contributors remain Mark Vientos and Jose Iglesias. Although they are rookies who started the season in the minors, they are super veterans. Meanwhile, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo are having decent seasons statistically (at least based on the diagonal), and Martinez is even worse.
Alonso's 34 home runs rank among the National League leaders, but by historical standards, his platform year is definitely below par. He also looks for signature moments. (Maybe now is a good time?)
Nimmo has improved his base stealing, has some big hits (believe it or not, he ranks 4th in the National League when you add win probability, but that's just a calculated number) ), hit with the worst luck imaginable. The poor guy took a few shots over the foul pole, but they were called fouls on second guessing. (He said there was an argument to make the pole longer, and let's hope so!)
With Lindor in pain, Jeff McNeil in the hospital, and the biggest bumpers in a pseudo-slump, the stars may need to start shining. Vientos and Iglesias need help.
The Mets technically don't need outside help, but if they keep losing, they'll be sent home. It's in their hands. A three-way tie heading into Saturday's game (and at least a tiebreaker advantage in Arizona) gives them a lot of hope. But they need to show a better version of themselves.
There are still too many possibilities in this area that cannot be cataloged. But suffice it to say that the prospect of another unwanted trip to Atlanta has taken a bit of a hit to their chances of qualifying. And two consecutive games of misfires didn't help either.
But hope is not lost. And they continue to do so.
“We didn't play our best,” Mendoza said. “But this team has been through a lot.”
They came back from an 11-game deficit, so whether they play two or three or maybe four more games, there's a belief that they can win.
