CHICAGO — The New York Mets closed August feeling good about themselves. Bring on September, they say, and all that comes with the final month of the regular season amid a push for a spot in the playoffs.
“It’s the best time of year,” outfielder Jesse Winker said after he went 3-for-3 with a home run Saturday in the Mets’ 5-3 win over the historically bad Chicago White Sox. “Definitely excited. I like our chances a lot. Just keep going, one day at a time.”
The welcoming attitude regarding the rise in stakes struck the right kind of tone from inside the Mets’ clubhouse, considering their situation.
The Mets’ playoff odds improved. Since they won and the Atlanta Braves lost, the Mets sliced their deficit in the standings for the final playoff spot to two games. There are 26 games left.
The Mets (72-64) moved to eight games over .500, a season-best.
And the Mets have won three straight games. It’s the first time they’ve won more than two games in a row since they reeled off five consecutive victories from July 22 to July 26, more than one month ago. So this run? It qualifies as a winning streak.
Tremendous catch by @You_Found_Nimmo 🤩 pic.twitter.com/mZ3pAvyKSd
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 1, 2024
“We’re in a good spot,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, “and we will continue to bring it every day.”
The Mets can’t afford not to. Not even Sunday when they hope to sweep the White Sox (31-106), a club challenging for MLB’s all-time worst season. And certainly not afterward, either.
New York’s latest win likely won’t crack any potential end-of-the-season sizzle reel (should any against the White Sox be allowed for such use?). Starter Jose Quintana racked up a high pitch count early and managed to get through five innings. José Buttó, playing the role of closer with Edwin Díaz unavailable (he had pitched the previous three games), allowed a run and three hits. And aside from Pete Alonso’s two-run home run in the first inning, the Mets failed to do much with runners on base. The Mets’ highlights Saturday required more keen attention.
The Mets’ best moments from the game included defensive plays, moments in a humdrum game that can easily get overlooked. The little things. Like Brandon Nimmo laying out for a ball in left field with the Mets up three runs in the sixth inning and no one on base. Like Tyrone Taylor chasing down a hard-hit ball in the left-center gap in the next inning for another out. For a club with little margin for error, these things matter.
“To be able to continue to win games and stay in there, we have to do the little things,” Mendoza said.
In that sense, it’s little surprise who the Mets’ initial two September call-ups will be. On the pitching side, veteran reliever Alex Young will be recalled to give the Mets’ bullpen its second lefty, Mendoza said. And veteran utility player Pablo Reyes will join the Mets’ bench, league sources said.
Reyes, who has spent the last few months with Triple-A Syracuse after playing the previous few seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers and Boston Red Sox, adds defensive versatility, but not much else. The Mets’ roster is by no means perfect, but their position-player group is healthy and their bench is deep. There aren’t many at-bats up for grabs. And they likely won’t find much of a difference-maker in Syracuse. Adding someone with major-league experience they can rely on to make a play if they need to use him is the safer call. Instead of glitz, the Mets chose practicality.
Perhaps the final position-player spot on the roster feels almost inconsequential, given the lack of a clear need that can be filled from the available personnel and how it can quickly change to address anything that may pop up, anyway. But that’s an exception. That’s not a feeling worth getting used to at this juncture. From here, every choice the Mets make matters. And every play, every game carries so much weight.
“At this point, we are playing our playoff right now,” Quintana said. “Every small thing is really big for us.”
Welcome to September.
(Photo of Pete Alonso, Mark Vientos and Jesse Winker: Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
