Monday is the last time this summer that the Mets were going to get any sort of rest as it was their last scheduled off day of 2020 with just 13 regular-season games remaining.
That was fast. And in typical Mets fashion, they’re flirting with another postseason-less year when it is easier to get in the dance than not under MLB’s expanded playoffs. Eight teams will make the cut this year, but the Mets are two games out of the final NL playoff spot as of Monday.
So seems to be the modus operandi for an organization that has been more concerned about upkeeping the illusion of being a contender than actually contending.
That is poised to change soon enough as Steve Cohen is expected to take over majority ownership in November, but for now, the Mets have 13 games to save their season.
To realistically have a shot of playing fall baseball, the Mets have to get close to that .500 line — even 31 wins — while getting some help considering they are one of four teams that are within two games of the San Francisco Giants for that last spot.
That means the Mets would have to pull off a 10-3 stretch, which seems inconceivable based on how inconsistent they’ve been in 2020.
The pitching staff has been an enigma behind Jacob deGrom and the bullpen has been nothing short of shambolic. Their offense leads Major League Baseball with 356 runners left on base, overshadowing the big seasons being had by Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith, and manager Luis Rojas has exhibited his fair share of growing pains that comes with being a young, first-year manager.
If you look at their remaining schedule, their next three series come against the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Tampa Bay Rays — all of whom are in the playoff picture — while their final set is four games against the defending-champion Washington Nationals, who sit three games behind the Mets in the NL standings.
At least football is back on.
