Mets vs. Phillies: What to know heading into pivotal weekend series
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. Credit: Noah K. Murray
PHILADELPHIA — The final countdown of the Mets’ season begins Friday — and it should be a heck of a lot of fun.
With one-tenth of the schedule remaining, they visit the Phillies for a three-game set at what almost certainly will be a raucous Citizens Bank Park. Division rivals playing well with lots on the line is what September baseball is all about.
“I definitely feel good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “And we know what’s ahead of us: a really good team.”
Francisco Alvarez said: “We have to be ready to play. We have to keep playing, keep doing what we’re doing. That’s it.”
Here are a few relevant threads heading into the Mets’ biggest series yet:
This is where it gets hard (again) for the Mets
That is not intended as a harbinger of doom, seeing as the Mets keep rising to the occasion against playoff-caliber teams. But it is the reality: They play good or great teams almost exclusively for the rest of the regular season.
After this series, the Mets get a three-game respite against Washington. Then it’s another four against Philadelphia, three at Atlanta and three at Milwaukee. And then, maybe, the postseason.
The Mets head into Friday one game ahead of Atlanta for the last National League wild-card spot. They also are just two games behind the Diamondbacks for the top wild card — a berth that would come with home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Phillies are mostly healthy — and certainly feeling themselves
DH and leadoff man extraordinaire Kyle Schwarber got hit by a pitch on the left elbow Tuesday and sat out Wednesday. The Phillies expect him back Friday.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto fouled a pitch off his left knee last Friday and hasn’t played since. The Phillies expect him back Friday as well.
Other than third baseman Alec Bohm — on the injured list with a hand issue — the Phillies have all their key players.
The Phillies just swept the Rays, including winning after their benches-clearing episode Tuesday, and are 8-2 in September.
“What can I say?” combustible reliever Jose Alvarado, who has allowed one hit in five appearances since returning from a weeklong personal leave, told reporters this week. “It all seems like the best thing in the world when you’re on the best team in baseball with the best record in baseball and best teammates in baseball. It all feels so nice. Just proud of everything we’re doing and the results we’ve been getting.”
The Phillies’ magic number to clinch the NL East is nine. It won’t happen this weekend, but they may well celebrate at Citi Field next week.
The pitching matchups are pretty much fine for the Mets
The good news is the Mets miss Zack Wheeler, an NL Cy Young Award candidate, this time around. The bad news is the Phillies’ other starters are pretty good too.
Here’s what the pitching probables look like:
- Friday: LHP Jose Quintana vs. RHP Aaron Nola
- Saturday: RHP Luis Severino vs. LHP Kolby Allard (likely)
- Sunday: LHP David Peterson vs. LHP Cristopher Sanchez
So the Mets are rolling with two of their three best starters (Severino and Peterson). The Phillies, likewise, get to use basically their Nos. 2 and 3.
Atlanta has it tough, too
It’s scoreboard watching season, and Atlanta’s outcomes matter just as much as the Mets’. While the Mets play the NL East leaders, Atlanta will host the NL West leaders, the Dodgers, for four games.
As Francisco Lindor goes, so go the Mets
The Mets’ best all-around player is much, much better in their wins (.331 average and 1.068 OPS) than in their losses (.191 and .536).
Maybe that is an obvious, if a particularly stark, example of a normal trend. But it goes deeper than that. The arc of Lindor’s season mirrors that of the Mets’.
When the Mets struggled through May, Lindor largely did too. The Mets getting — and staying — hot in June and July coincided with Lindor doing the same.
When Lindor cooled off in early August, the Mets lost a couple of games they should have won. When Lindor resumed his MVP campaign shortly thereafter, the Mets dominated against good teams and started that nine-game winning streak.
When that run ended and the Mets lost two of three, the closest they’ve come to a slump in weeks, it lined up with Lindor’s bat going silent for just a few days. When Lindor homered to end Bowden Francis’ no-hit bid in the ninth inning Wednesday, the rest of the Mets followed, turning a potential embarrassing loss into a thrilling win.
The Mets have underperforming hitters who need to get hot, namely Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso. But Lindor has been the correlating key all year, for better or for worse.
“When he’s going and he’s setting the table up and he’s getting on base — and not only getting on base but driving the ball — obviously everybody will follow him,” Mendoza said. “But he’s human. It’s hard to maintain what he was doing.”
What does Lindor mean to the Mets?
“Uhhhh,” Sean Manaea said. “Everything?”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
