All that matters now for Mets is the playoffs, where hope is far from lost

There is no way to sugarcoat what just happened to the Mets against the Braves in Atlanta and what has happened to them over the last month of the season.

The Mets, who led the NL East for basically the entire season, just needed to win one game out of three in Atlanta to put themselves in the driver's seat to win the division. They not only failed to do so, but failed in spectacular fashion, with pretty much everyone but Jeff McNeil and a few relievers coming up impossibly small.

In the month before that, all the Mets had to do to avoid a situation like the one they just faced and failed against the Braves, was play well against some of the worst teams in baseball. They didn't even have to dominate them, they just had to play well. They didn't. That opened the door for the Braves, and Atlanta broke through that door over the weekend, almost certainly sticking a knife in the Mets' chances to win the NL East.

This past weekend, the Mets were not prepared to do what it took to win. It's as simple as that.

Their offense was mostly missing, and except for two home runs on Sunday night, they hit for virtually no power.

Even more shocking was what the starting rotation did, with Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, and especially Chris Bassitt all failing to hold leads and underwhelming in a huge way in their biggest starts of the season.

After Sunday night's game, some Mets players seemed shell-shocked. Even as early as Saturday night's postgame, Brandon Nimmo appeared dazed at what was happening.

Of course, what matters now is how the players respond. Are they angry? Are they too shocked to be angry yet? Are they ready to turn the page and write a fresh story, very likely starting this weekend in the best-of-three Wild Card Series at Citi Field?

The fans also need to be mentioned here.

Mets fans, who have dealt with so much losing during the history of this franchise and especially over the last 15 or so years (save for 2015 and 2016) have been put through absolute hell over the last month. That's pretty insane when you consider this Mets team has won 98 games and is going to the playoffs, but it's true.

And it's totally understandable that many Mets fans right now are giving up hope, furious over what just happened and feeling negatively about New York's chances in the playoffs.

But the Mets have 98 wins for a reason. They've been one of the best teams in baseball all season for a reason. And there's really no reason to believe that the metaphorical carnage everyone just witnessed over the weekend in Atlanta is more representative of what this Mets team is and can be than what they showed for most of the season.

Lots of fans probably don't want to hear that right now, but that doesn't make it any less true.

The Mets themselves might also need to hear it, and that will be up to whichever team leaders speak up (or have already spoken up). It will be up to Buck Showalter to help light a fire under them. Maybe owner Steve Cohen, who spoke to the team after they clinched their playoff spot in Milwaukee against the Brewers, will want to say something before the postseason starts.

Now, the only thing that matters is what the Mets do in the playoffs. And if they go far, no one will care what happened over the last month -- and especially during the lost weekend in Atlanta, which has been a house of horrors for New York since the 1990s.

Can this Mets team shake it off? And can they go far in the playoffs?

That will likely start and end with deGrom and Scherzer, as has been the case since before the season even started.

The fact that deGrom has looked human over his last two starts is not ideal, but he was dealing with a blister in both of those starts. Maybe that had a bit -- or even a lot -- to do with his failures.

What shouldn't be forgotten, though, is what deGrom looked like before that. And that was the best pitcher in baseball, which is what he has been since 2018.

Then there's Scherzer, who was nearly untouchable earlier in September in his first two starts back from the IL, but didn't look like himself against the Braves on Saturday as he failed to finish hitters after getting ahead in the count.

Is there a chance that deGrom and/or Scherzer don't dominate in the playoffs? Sure. But there's arguably a much bigger chance they'll pitch like the aces they were before this weekend and have been for their entire careers.

Along with needing bounce backs from deGrom and Scherzer, the Mets will need their offense -- which was humming late in September before disappearing lately -- to kick in to high gear.

They'll need Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor to help carry them. And the return of Starling Marte, who is making progress as he works his way back from a broken finger, would be a big help. 

But the Mets also need to again become the team they were for most of the season -- a team that cashes in more often than not when presented with golden scoring opportunities, a team that moves runners over, a team that works deep counts.

To those concerned that the Mets might be limping into the playoffs, I'll note that it often doesn't matter one bit how a team plays right before the playoffs. That doesn't mean you should feel good about how the Mets look right now, but sometimes how a team plays at the end of the regular season just doesn't carry over.

Want examples?

I'll point you to the 2000 Yankees, who lost 15 of their last 18 games and beat the Mets in the World Series.

I'll point you to the 2006 St. Louis Cardinals, who nearly blew their division lead late in the season, won 83 games, and won the World Series after beating the Mets in the NLCS.

I'll point you to the 2014 San Francisco Giants, who went 7-9 down the stretch and won the World Series, mostly on the strength of one dominant starting pitcher -- Madison Bumgarner.

Barring something totally crazy happening, the Mets will be in the Wild Card Series -- with each of the potential three games at Citi Field -- and facing the San Diego Padres or Philadelphia Phillies.

It seems likelier that the Mets will face the Padres, who were playing pretty mediocre baseball between their huge trade deadline at the end of July and the last few weeks. 

They've gotten hot recently, beating up on some bad teams and also taking a series from the Cardinals (who aren't really playing for anything right now) and Dodgers (who are literally playing for nothing right now).

That doesn't mean the Padres aren't formidable. They are. And any team should be wary of a rotation that features Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Joe Musgrove, and Mike Clevinger, and an offense that includes Manny Machado and Juan Soto. 

But to those pointing at the Mets' 2-4 record against the Padres this season and quaking over it? Don't.

DeGrom started zero of those games against San Diego and Scherzer started one, allowing two runs in six innings. The Padres will not be facing the Mets team they beat four of six times earlier this season, and the Mets will be facing a much different Padres team. Throw the regular season games out the window.

Still, the road for the Mets is now a lot more difficult than it would have been had they secured the NL East title. Instead of a bye to the NLDS, they'll have to get through a tough Wild Card round to get there. That also means the Mets won't be able to set up their rotation as they see fit for a potential NLDS. 

Basically, unless the Mets get creative in the Wild Card round, they'll only be able to pitch deGrom and Scherzer one time each in the NLDS, instead of having one of them possibly pitch twice (in Game 1 and Game 5). 

But there was probably no scenario where they would've both pitched twice in the NLDS anyway, even if the Mets won the NL East. That's because it's hard to see deGrom or Scherzer being asked to go on short rest -- or to even rationalize having them go on short rest.

Another byproduct of losing the division is that if the Mets get to the best-of-five NLDS, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be waiting for them instead of the winner of the series between the No. 3 St. Louis Cardinals and the No. 6 seed. 

One thing about that, though, is that the Mets probably would've had to go through the Dodgers at some point this postseason no matter what. They'll just be getting them a round early if they make it through the Wild Card round.

This past weekend in Atlanta -- as painful and disappointing and maddening as it was -- did not represent the end for the 2022 Mets.

Likely starting on Friday in the Wild Card Series at Citi Field, the 2022 Mets will have a chance to show what they're made of. Maybe the answer is that they're simply not ready to meet the moment. Or, maybe the team they've been for most of the season emerges and goes on an incredible playoff run, rendering moot what they just went through on the way there.