The stage was set. After sweeping the lowly Atlanta Braves at home over the weekend, the Washington Nationals had put themselves four games back of the New York Mets in the National League East division race heading into a three-game series against them at Nationals Park. It would be their last home series against the Mets for the remainder of the season. It was time for the perennial division favorite to take charge and put the division title back up for grabs.
In that series, baseball fans saw the New York Mets prove they’re playoff ready by going into Washington D. C. and showing the baseball world what a division champion does.
The Mets swept the Nationals, improving their division lead to seven games with 23 games left, and solidified themselves, barring an epic collapse, as NL East Division Champions. They trailed in all three games, including a 7-1 deficit through six innings on Tuesday night after their innings-limit minded ace, Matt Harvey, was chased in the sixth. The Mets the proceeded to score seven runs in the next two innings for an Amazin’ comeback (had to get that in there). They understood the importance of these three games, played in a city and against a team that took 15 of 19 games from them last season. They knew this was a playoff series in September, and they left Washington only after proving their playoff worth.
The offense was magnificent. Yoenis Cespedes drove in seven runs in the series, including a two-run, go-ahead shot in the ninth of Wednesday’s game to cap off another comeback victory. Cespedes has been everything the Mets wanted in him when they acquired him from the Detroit Tigers minutes before the trade deadline on July 31. In the 36 games he has played in a Mets uniform, Cespedes has hit 14 home runs, driven in 36 runs, and accumulated a 1.032 OPS, all top-10 in the NL. His performance has some baseball writers to name him as an NL MVP candidate despite very few games in the National League. The bench players came through in the clutch as well. Most notable among them was Kelly Johnson, who hit a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s game to tie it up before Cespedes won it in the ninth.
The Mets’ level of play in Washington D.C. not only proves that they are that much closer to an NL East Division Title, but also closer to a NL pennant and a World Series appearance. They have everything you want in a pennant contender. They have a stellar young pitching staff, led by 27-year old phenom Jacob deGrom, who took last year’s Rookie of the Year campaign and has followed in up by placing in the top-10 in the NL in Wins (12), ERA (2.40) and strikeouts (175). Along with 23-year old Noah Syndergaard and veteran Bartolo Colon, the Mets have as good of a pitching staff as any club going into October. The wild card of the staff is Matt Harvey, the 26-year old right-hander who is coming off 2014 Tommy John surgery and is on a well-publicized innings limit, which affects his postseason worth. If they can limit how many pitches he throws during the remainder of September with the division all but locked, enabling him to pitcher when needed in October, the Mets can showcase a formidable group of starters for postseason play.
The Mets have played good baseball all season long; however, before the All-Star break, the offense was their question mark. It wasn’t without talent, but it missed a certain lineup chemistry that most pennant contenders have. The additions of Cespedes, Johnson and utility-slugger Juan Uribe gave the team some sense of a consistent lineup. The key to it all, however, was the return of veteran leader David Wright, arguably the greatest to ever wear the Met uniform. Since returning to the team on August 24, after spending almost four months on the disabled list, Wright has 27 hits in 21 games and has resumed his role as leader on the field as well as the clubhouse. Wright has spent his entire career with this franchise and still longs for that World Series victory that he and this team desperately desire.
The Mets haven’t won a division title or competed for an NL pennant since 2006 and haven’t appeared in or won in a World Series since 1986. But the 2015 Mets have proven to be a true contender for a championship. They have a dominant pitching staff and a consistent lineup loaded with chemistry. The biggest reason to jump on the Mets bandwagon this October, however, is that anyone can tell by watching them that this team is having fun. And it’s all coming together at the right time.
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