I sure hope this works. The Mets are on the verge of their first division title in nine years. Nine very long (and painful) years; and yet every day it feels less like that. This team is limping into the playoffs, and it’s their own doing. Maybe this is just overreacting, but the way the Mets have taken their foot off the gas the last week, it almost feels like the air has been taken out of the balloon before the party could even start.
The Harvey situation has really put a drag on the whole season for Mets fans. Limited inning starts, limited post season starts? It all just tastes terrible in the mouths of this great fanbase. It’s not right, and Mets fans still don’t know where to direct all their anger. As much as fans want to move on past the subject, starts like Sunday’s game just bring the anger right back to the forefront again.
With the B-line-ups, the non-starts by the young guns, it feels like the Mets are ho-humming it until October. For a fanbase that lived through 2007 and 2008, that doesn’t sit well. What could have been a situation where the Mets kept their pedal to the metal and rested everyone after clinching, we are stuck here watching the Mets simply wait for the Nats to lose every night, which thankfully started happening again.
No, the Mets are not going to collapse, but there’s just something unsettling about how this team is playing right now. Guys that were sure things like Clippard and Familia are suddenly faltering. I want to believe that this team is collectively bigger than Matt Harvey, but there has to be some trickle down when the team’s bulldog self-neuters himself.
Maybe this is all going to be moot points in the end. Perhaps its better to struggle before the season ends rather than when the playoffs begin. After all, if our pitchers are refreshed and pitching well in the divisional series, will anyone care that the Mets dragged their bodies across the finish line?
Mets fans are tired of scoreboard watching. We want to celebrate and dream about a deep October run. The Mets need to start building their momentum back up. The last thing this team and fan-base needs is a meaningful series against the Nationals the last weekend of the season. It’s time to put the foot back on the pedal. Let’s. Go. Mets.
