New York Mets
The New York Mets find themselves 2.5 games back from the second wild card despite a 6-4 stretch over their last 10. The club needed those six wins to push their August record to 12-14, thus salvaging any hope for the postseason.
The simple truth is that, aside from a 15-7 April, the Mets are not anything more than an average ballclub. Their combined record since April is 51-57, and they have not had a winning month since the season’s opening stanza.
We cannot ignore the effect that injuries have had on this team. The shutdown of Matt Harvey steals the headlines, but with Steven Matz, Lucas Duda, Zack Wheeler and others being shut down, the club is a shadow of what it could have been. Add in that David Wright‘s insistence to play this season despite many medical inclinations urging him not to, and this 2016 season seems destined to be labelled as a World Series Hangover.
The Mets will find out soon if they are true contenders. A four-game series against the Marlins starting today will serve as an inflection point for both teams. Should the Marlins take the series, it would be hard to consider the Mets as being able to stay in the race. With six games of their next 12 coming against the Washington Nationals, things could come to a merciful end for the Mets by mid-September.
Mets Links of Note
- NY Mets Report has an excellent snapshot of the team’s current state.
- Mets Daddy has a commentary on how the club has gotten around its pitching injuries.
That does it for the inaugural edition of the Pittsburgh Pirates Wild Card Watch. Check back at noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the 2016 Wild Card chase for more insight as to the Pirates’ postseason rivals.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
