The New York Mets are dangerously on the cusp of falling out of playoff contention with just six games left in the regular season.
New York is currently tied with the Cincinnati Reds for the final National League Wild Card spot, but the Reds hold the tiebreaker over the Mets. If both teams finish with the same record and are still in the playoff spot, Cincinnati will get in, and New York would miss the playoffs.
It’s wild to think about, considering the Mets were the best team in Major League Baseball for much of the first half and had a dynamic offense and pitching staff.
New York went from 45-24 to 80-76 in an utter display of embarrassment down the stretch. It’s not over yet, the Mets can easily make the playoffs still, but the trends suggest New York will complete the collapse.
The Mets have lost their last two games and six of their last 10, which is actually an improvement from their previous “last 10,” though not very good. The Reds have won their last five games and six of their last 10, the opposite of New York.
New York will visit the Windy City for a three-game set with the Chicago Cubs; the team the Reds just swept over four games. The Cubs have already clinched, which probably factored into the sweep, though the series opener and finale were 1-0 finals.
The Mets desperately need to take at least two of three from the Cubs. The Mets are not good on the road (31-44 record) and the Cubs are one of the best home teams in the league (46-29 record).
Unfortunately for the Mets, the Cubs will be sending out their three best pitchers: potential NL Rookie of the Year Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga.
David Peterson will duel Horton on Tuesday, Jonah Tong will match up with Boyd on Wednesday and Brandon Sproat will battle Imanaga in the series finale on Thursday.
The Mets’ rookie pitchers were expected to have a huge role down the stretch, and two of the three will start two of the biggest games of the year.
New York’s offense, specifically first baseman Pete Alonso, needs to stay hot if they want a chance to control their destiny moving forward.
“Winning solves everything at this point,” Alonso said after the loss Sunday. “We just gotta do it, that’s it. [We] got to solve our issues between the lines.”