This season has been anything but easy for the Mets, so why should it be any different now as we head to the final days of August?
The Amazins have endured a lot this season. They were 22-30 on Memorial Day after a 9-19 May. They went 16-8 in June to be at .500 (42-42) on the Fourth of July.
Everyone knew August was going to be a grind. The team would face two West Coast trips and have one day off instead of two since they had to play a makeup game against the St. Louis Cardinals after the game was postponed on April 8 due to rain. They would play at Citi Field only once this month, and they completed the homestand on Wednesday afternoon by going 5-4 with a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Jesse Winker’s game-winning home run in the ninth inning.
The Mets are 10-10 this month, and they started their West Coast portion of this road trip on Thursday night with an authoritative 8-3 victory over the sizzling San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
With all that travel, which would have affected the players’ minds and bodies despite being on first-class airplanes and hotels, it can’t be surprising that the team has been in survival mode. Looking at the August schedule, I figured that would be the case. The Mets need to hang in there until Labor Day weekend. They should be in good shape to make the playoffs if they can do that. It won’t be easy, though. This road trip could either break or make the Mets. Returning to the wild-card race will be an uphill climb if they do terribly.
It will be hard to take three of four against the Wild Card-leading Padres, who are making a case that they are the team to beat with a mixture of young talent and wily veterans on offense, along with their impressive pitching staff. It would be an accomplishment if the Mets win at least two games against that team.
You can say I am setting the bar low, but a split against the Pads has to be the realistic mindset. Sure, if the Mets win the first two, you hope they can somehow win the third game of the set, but winning two games has to be the bare minimum for this team to have a good trip.
Then, they will face another Wild Card contender in the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been playing as well as the Padres. It will be tough to take a series there, especially when they finish it on Thursday with a day game after playing the night before. Then the Mets head to Chicago and must sweep the inept Chicago White Sox, who are trying to avoid the infamous feat of breaking the ‘62 Mets record for most losses at 120. Sure, Chicago is playing decently (yeah, it’s relative), but there’s no excuse for the Mets to lose one game to them. They need to dig deep, even if they are tired. Next weekend will determine how much the Mets have left for September and if they are good enough to make the playoffs.
It would be an accomplishment for the Metropolitans could go 6-4 on this trip, but it has to be the goal.
Yes, the Mets went 5-4 this month against the Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, and Miami Marlins when they should have done better against them. They went 0-3 against the struggling Seattle Mariners when they should have won at least a game. We can talk about circumstances such as travel, letdown, or trying to find their legs. But I feel the Padres, Diamondbacks, and White Sox will bring out the best of the Amazins. They know that if they screw up against those teams, they will pay for it. They must find a way to play their best baseball against them.
The Mets have the starting pitching to get it done. This should be the platform for Francisco Lindor to make a case that he should be the NL MVP by stepping up on this road trip. Maybe Pete Alonso can finally go on that elusive tear that the team has been waiting for all season.
This team has grinded all year despite so many ups and downs. The Mets are good enough to have one more good run in them. Plus, it shouldn’t hurt they have Grimace on their side to provide magic. After all, they are 34-18 since the McDonald’s mascot threw the first pitch against the Miami Marlins on June 12.
The Mets have learned plenty about themselves this season, and they should apply it well in a trip that could make or break their season.
