How would the Mets deploy their starters in the playoffs?

The youngsters have been shining bright and earning their place, but they're an unproven element for a playoff series. Also - the Mets won a series against the Padres this week

Image courtesy of the New York Mets

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets defeated the Padres 6-1 to take the series against San Diego and to improve to 48-30 at home this season (box)

• The Mets hit 10 home runs in the series against the Padres, which is their most ever in a three-game series at home...Courtesy of Elias.

• Their pitchers issued zero walks for the ninth time this season and they improved to 7-2 in those games

• RHP Jonah Tong was brilliant. He pitched 5.0 innings, allowed one unearned run, and struck out eight. His eight strikeouts are the most by a Met who is

  22 years old or younger since Noah Syndergaard struck out nine on

  August 25, 2015. He has now struck out six batters or more in three of his four starts this season

• 1B Pete Alonso struck again with a home run in the first. He has hit a home run in four straight games and his 121 RBIs puts him fourth in franchise history for the most RBIs in a single season

• SS Francisco Lindor went 1-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He now has 1000 runs scored for his career joining Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman as the only players to score 1000 runs since 2015.

• RF Juan Soto recorded his 100th RBI of the season and overall went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI

• LF Brandon Nimmo blasted his 24th home run of the season to match his career high which he set in 2023

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Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Wander Suero selected to the major league roster

• LHP Sean Manaea placed on the paternity list

• RHP Reed Garrett placed on the IL with a right elbow sprain retroactive to September 15

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Playoff Race 🏁

Hunter Greene was lights out for the Reds, pitching a one-hit shutout against the Cubs who clinched a playoff spot a day prior.

The Giants lost a game in the standings after losing 2-1 to the Dodgers.

The Mets are now two games ahead of the Diamondbacks, but also two games ahead of the Reds. They increased their lead to three games over the Giants. All four teams have nine games left to play.

Tiebreakers:

• Mets own the tiebreaker against the Giants - if they finish with identical records, the Mets would finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Giants

• Mets do not own the tiebreaker against the Reds - if they finish with identical records, the Reds would win the higher seed or eliminate the Mets

• Mets and Diamondbacks finished their season series tied, but the Diamondbacks currently have a better record against their own division than the Mets do, so they would either finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Mets

• Mets own the tiebreaker against the Cardinals - if they finish with identical records, the Mets would finish with the higher seed or eliminate the Cardinals

Per Fangraphs, the Mets have an 86.7% chance of making the 2025 playoffs.

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Play of the Game ⭐️

After the Padres briefly tied the game 1-1, Juan Soto untied it in the bottom of the third with an RBI groundout to give the team a 2-1 lead, a lead the Mets would not relinquish and send them on their way to a critical series win over the Padres.

It was Soto’s 100th RBI of the year, and he became the third player in MLB history to hit at least 40 home runs, steal at least 30 bases, have 100 or more RBI, and 100 or more walks (others: Jeff Bagwell, Barry Bonds).

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Stats of the Day 📊

• Since August 1, the club’s 249 runs are the second-most in the majors only trialing the Brewers 263 runs

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Who’s Hot? 🥵

• LF Brandon Nimmo has hit safely in 25 of his last 31 starts dating back to August 12. Over that span he is slashing .306/.343/.479 (37-121) with six doubles, five

  homers, 23 RBI, and 20 runs

• Through 16 games in September, Pete Alonso is slashing .286/.329/.619 (18-63) with three doubles, six home runs, 11 RBI and seven runs

• SS Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to seven games. Over that span he is batting .308 (8-for-26)

• Since May 30, a span of 96 games, Juan Soto is hitting .286/.419/1.025 with 9 doubles, 1 triple, 33 home runs and 75 RBI with 77 walks, 26 stolen bases, 98 hits and 81 runs scored. That is a 55 HR, 126 RBI, 129 walk, 43 stolen base pace over 162 games

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Kodai Senga (Triple-A): 3.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K

• RHP Jack Wenninger (No. 13 prospect, Double-A): 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 9 K

• CF AJ Ewing (No. 7 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4, R, 2 RBIs, 3B

Double-A Binghamton took a 2-0 series lead in their Division Series against the Somerset Patriots with a 5-1 win

SCORES

Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (79-74) vs. Nationals (62-91)

Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Brandon Sproat (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. TBD

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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If the Mets make it, who is going to pitch? ✍️

Image courtesy of the Mets

While things are far from settled, the Mets need to start thinking about a possible playoff rotation, and right now, it is not looking pretty.

Kodai Senga struggled in his most recent Triple-A start this week, giving up four runs in less than four innings pitched. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that he can come back here and pitch effectively even after producing a solid start initially. Ironically enough, Senga was always viewed as the one who would be pitching in the first game of a playoff series, and now he is trying to prove that he is still a major league pitcher.

David Peterson has turned into a pumpkin after an amazing start to the season - he owns a 7.59 ERA and has allowed a total of 34 earned runs over his last eight starts. His strike zone command has eluded him, and he just seems to have hit a wall after tallying a career-high in innings pitched this season by a wide margin. Sean Manaea looked fantastic in his last appearance in relief of Clay Holmes, who piggybacked each other because neither has shown they can go more than four or five innings effectively.

NY Post

That may not be a bad thing in the playoffs, but the Mets need to see more of that formula before they can draw a safe conclusion that it will work, and they’re only going to get one more shot at it next week against Chicago since Manaea is out on paternity leave.

That leaves the three rookies: Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong.

McLean has been a revelation ever since his call-up in August and is undeniably the ace of this staff right now. He has gone 4-1 with a 1.19 ERA in six games, but perhaps even more significant is that he is intangibly poised out there.

Who else would they want out there in Game 1 of a playoff series at this point in the season? He has earned it - he has been one of the best starters in baseball since he burst onto the scene in mid-August (10th best by fWAR at 1.2, for what it’s worth).

NY Post

Tong is probably the most tantalizing of the three with his funky delivery, nasty stuff, and his ability to get strikeouts. However, he did have one brutal start and has pitched in just four games this season. His latest start yesterday was, of course, his best so far against the playoff-bound Padres, and while he should be in the mix, it is unquestionably risky. Of the three, he might be the most talented but is certainly the least polished at the moment, but he showed against the Padres a quick ability to adjust and learn on the fly.

Of course, a playoff game is hardly the environment for a player to be working on things and learning lessons. They could perhaps use him out of the bullpen like they used Noah Syndergaard in 2015, but that might not be the correct move here given how little experience he has in the majors.

Also - this might only work if the Mets don’t need these three against the Marlins next weekend in Miami. Winning games between now and then can help them set up their best-case for the starting rotation.

NY Post

It’s an interesting conundrum to say the least, and a problem the Mets wouldn’t be dealing with if their veteran starters had been better and more agile to this point. And if these young arms falter, the Mets will be leaning on their broken bullpen for hope, but that isn’t a given with Ryan Helsley and Ryne Stanek’s struggles, among others.

Fairly or unfairly, this team will probably go as far as the kids can take them. They will need to either step up in the rotation or the bullpen if this team is to have a chance in October. It happened a decade ago in 2015, and the Mets need to hope that history can repeat itself this season.

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Around the League 🚩

• Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw announced that he will be retiring at the end of the season

• The Tigers struggles continue despite a strong start by Tarik Skubal. They were swept by the Guardians dropping the final game by a score of 3-1

• Max Fried struck out 13 in the Yankees’ 7-0 win over the Orioles

• The Red Sox lost 5-3 to the Athletics to allow the Guardians to move within a game and a half of the final Wild Card