Mets' postseason accomplishment and their handling of it shows how much has changed

If you watched from the beginning of this 2022 season, you couldn’t have been surprised that the Mets celebrated their postseason clinching in Milwaukee on Monday night in subdued fashion -- sipping champagne from elegant glassware rather than spraying it wildly from oversized bottles.

They have been the epitome of professionalism all year, after all, and an over-the-top party would have been out of character for them when so much is still at stake over these last few weeks of the season.

Instead, they sent exactly the right message about how important it is to hold off the Atlanta Braves and win the NL East, understanding what the first-round bye could mean for their hopes of going the distance and winning a championship.

Where it all goes from here remains to be seen, but this first accomplishment -- and the way the Mets handled it -- was reason enough to reflect on just how much has changed in one year, from a team that badly lacked maturity and leadership to one that practically shines with those very qualities.

Credit Billy Eppler, Sandy Alderson, and Steve Cohen for bringing in the right people to change the tone, the culture -- whatever you want to call it -- so dramatically in one year. The veteran free agent position players all seemed to bring a team-first mentality that played a big role in those changes.

And then there was Max Scherzer and Buck Showalter. More than anyone else, the manager and the future Hall-of-Famer set a new, defined course for a team that was lost at sea for several years.

Showalter did it by demanding professionalism and getting his players to understand and buy in to the small details that matter so much, as well as the importance of playing for one another, all of it adding up to personal accountability.

The best compliment he could unwittingly give himself, as it turned out, was his description of his team and the decision not to overdo the celebration.

"It’s a mature group that stays in the moment," Showalter said.

Suffice to say that doesn’t happen by accident.

And Scherzer did it by being Scherzer, a man whose intensity, work ethic, and competitive spirit raises the level of the players around him. You heard all those accolades from his days with the Washington Nationals and you wondered if there was some overstatement as his legend grew with three Cy Young Awards and the 2019 world championship.

Nope, turns out they couldn’t have been more true. You heard player after player who was interviewed by SNY’s Steve Gelbs after the Mets’ 7-2 clincher over the Brewers gush about how much Scherzer meant to the clubhouse, to the chemistry of a team that so far has played perhaps better than the sum of its individual parts -- in stark contrast to years of underachieving.

Of all the players I saw interviewed, I thought Francisco Lindor’s comments were most poignant. A year ago he tried to lead and didn’t really know how, making well-publicized mistakes along the way, and on Monday night he indicated that seeing Scherzer do his thing on and off the field helped him understand what it takes to lead.

"I’ve learned that I can’t just go through the motions," Lindor said. "I’ve learned that before, but just seeing it with Max, this guy who has won Cy Youngs and been at the pinnacle of his profession, and still doing the things to put him in the best position to win every time he goes out there, it tells me I can’t take a day off.

"I have to go out there and prepare myself and give myself and Max the best chance to win every ballgame."

Other players said much the same in different ways, talking about the importance of the energy Scherzer brings to the ballpark on a daily basis, whether pitching or not.

Brandon Nimmo put it most succinctly when he said of Scherzer, "His passion is contagious."

With all of that in mind, it was fitting that the Mets clinched on a night when Scherzer not only pitched but was perfect for six innings in his first start back from the Injured List, thus earning the 200th win of his career.

"Everybody took a lot of pride in being here for Max’s 200th win," Showalter said. "You couldn’t draw it up any better tonight."

Well, if you wanted the cherry on top, Scherzer would not have been on a restricted pitch count and he could have taken a shot at finishing off the perfect game. But in his first start since going on the IL for the second time this season he knew he wasn’t going more than 75 pitches, so he said it wasn’t hard to come out of the game after retiring the first 18 batters he faced.

"You’ve just got to take the victories where you can get them," he said. "For me that was throwing six innings tonight, getting to 68 pitches, and feeling like my side was fatiguing at the same rate as my arm."

Meaning that it’s all about progressing, getting back to full speed for the sake of going deep into October.

As for the 200th win, Scherzer said, "It’s an awesome milestone but I’ll appreciate it more in the offseason. I’m locked in more on today, what this team is doing. We’ve jelled, we’ve come together. But there’s more to do."

It’s exactly that sentiment the Mets raised their glasses to on Monday night. Kudos to them for doing it right.