On Monday night, the Atlanta Braves lost 1-0 to the Pittsburg Pirates moving the Mets into 2nd place in the division. While it’s all for not this year, it seems like an important step. The Mets now control their own destiny in not only reaching .500, something they can do by going 5-1 in their final 6 games, but in finishing in 2nd place in the National League East.
While the Mets may be in 2nd place at the moment, they are lumped in with the rest of their division sitting 15.5 games behind the division winning Nationals. The Mets, Braves, Marlins and Phillies are all separated by just 5 games at the bottom of the worst division in the National League.
The real debate is whether it matters in any way. At this point in the season, winning tastes almost as bad as losing. While you want to finish strong for the sake of the long off-season, each win puts them further behind when it comes to signing free agents and drafting elite talent in the 2015 first year player draft.
Still, the Mets in 2nd place with just 76 wins points to the mediocrity in the division. The Phillies are a long ways from their dominant days with Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard and the Braves haven’t been able to cover the gaps left by injured pitchers and overpriced free agents. The Marlins are, well the Marlins. That leaves the Nationals as the elite team in the division and makes the Mets that much more exciting in 2015.
The fact is, the Mets will be facing very mundane competition and if they can turn their losing ways around against the Nationals, they’ll have a real shot at the division in 2015. Despite having lost 13 of 16 games to the Nats, they still have a winning record (37-36) inside the division. With one series against the Nationals left, maybe the Mets can infuse some juice into the rivalry before 2015 even begins.
