Whatever postseason hopes that still existed after the Mets took two out of three to the Yankees have all but vanished.
Heading into Sept. 13, the Mets were just three games back of the second Wild Card spot – they’ve lost five in a row since then, and now trail by seven games with 13 to go.
Now, they need a miracle.
“It’s another tough loss, and the chances are diminishing, but there are chances. We can’t hang our heads just yet. We gotta keep moving forward, we gotta keep pushing,” manager Luis Rojas said after Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Some squads may take pride in finishing the season at .500 or above – much like the 2019 Mets – but these seasons vary. The Mets seemed out of contention at that point, and then went 46-26 post All-Star break. This season, they went from a 4.5-game lead in the division on July 31st to this.
So one can’t blame the Mets for simply not being thrilled with finishing .500.
“Playoffs are the main goal, and then your record after that doesn’t really matter, because you didn’t make the playoffs,” Brandon Nimmo said.
“Playoffs is – we want to win,” added Rojas. “That’s why we’re here. Everything that got us to here – offseason, spring training, all the things that we’ve been through this year, it’s for the playoffs. There’s nothing more to it. The race and distance from teams to get to the clinching spot is what we have to do. That’s our goal, that’s our mission. Nothing more. We can’t think of nothing else other than that. That’s it.”
It’s going to take a lot of wins – probably 13 – and some help for the Mets to sneak into October ball. And Nimmo is going to try for that.
“I’m still not gonna go out every day and just, like, give it away. I’m still gonna go out there and try and win every day. That’s just how I’m wired. But it is kind of a you either make the playoffs or it doesn’t really matter.”