Dodging Disaster: Why the Mets Must Outlast the Braves Now
Every team has that one rival, that one opponent who always seems to get the better of them, no matter the situation. For a good portion of the history of the New York Metropolitans, that team has been the Atlanta Braves. However, this season it has been a tale of two teams. It's a Braves club that struggled out of the gate and just never hit its stride. While the Mets came out like gangbusters, they have since had a fickle aversion to playing good baseball. Switching wildly between hot and cold, most recently losing 11 of 12 after winning seven in a row leading into that.
Right as the Mets need a win more than anything, they run into their hated rivals from down south. Currently holding onto a playoff spot by the skin of their teeth, the Mets need this series to stave off the still-relevant Cincinnati Reds. Going against a Braves team that has won three in a row and four of their last five, they are going ot have their work cut out for them. Especially in Game One.
The Braves, to start the series, are rolling out Spencer Strider against Clay Holmes. Strider is still a formidable pitcher; as recently as 2023, he led the league in wins, strikeouts, and FIP, as well as finishing fourth in the Cy Young balloting. The first game certainly will be a battle, but the remaining two are certainly winnable for this Mets team as they’d be facing Carlos Carrasco and Bryce Elder, who both sport ERAs over six. While the Mets have their two best pitchers lined up for games two and three, respectively, in David Peterson and Kodai Senga. Both of those two starters are more than capable of being the stopper that this team needs more than anything.
The most important thing the Mets can do right now is stop the bleeding. The fact that this series is against the Braves only adds to the weight of it. If they don’t, they could very soon be kissing dreams of a World Series goodbye as they see their playoff spot speeding out of reach. Now, it should not be lost on anyone that the Mets need to make the playoffs. A team does not guarantee $765 million to Juan Soto, unless they are a World Series contender, and make no mistake that is how this Mets organization sees themselves. While it’s unwise to overprescribe importance to any one series in a 162-game season, this series has the feeling that, for better or worse, it could send the Mets in two very different directions.
If they lose this series or God-forbid get swept, it will only add to the challenge that is in front of them to hold on to this playoff spot and maybe even fight for the division. If this Mets team does not make the playoffs with the hopes, expectations, and money behind this club, it will be a failure of a season. I heard once that there are these things you sometimes have to do in order to do what you need to. The trick is not to let those things kill you. The Mets need to make the playoffs. The thing is, they can’t let the Braves kill them before they do.
