Being in contention at the start of August is a nice change, and taking sole possession of first place is a significant step in the right direction for the Orange and Blue.
In a decade that has been marred with losses and disappointing finishes – now is the time for the Mets. The team hasn’t been in this position since their last year at Shea is ready for Prime Time and to pounce on the postseason.
The team has a much stronger home record at this point but unfortunately, will be on the road more often before the season is out (as of August 3 – 32 away games, 25 home games). Given that the Mets have MLB Futures priced at +1,000 to win the World Series, they could be a safer bet than some of their other close competitors.
Let’s face it, once the playoffs start, anything can happen. Until then though, most online bookmakers still say the Nationals will have a tight hold on the NL East. I’m not so sure I agree with them after watching the Mets handily sweep them this past weekend. The Nats meet the Mets once more, but also have multiple upcoming dances with the Marlins and Rockies. These meetings are also followed up by dates with the Brewers, Braves and Padres. The Nationals by comparison have themselves a pretty tough schedule.
It is apparent now that the Mets’ focus is on winning the division. The Wild Card is a nice fallback option but it would be no guarantee with the Pirates and Giants and the Cubs all jockeying for position in a race that may not be decided until the final day of the season. Still, the Mets line up nicely there too when you consider their opposition’s schedule.
Let’s start with Pittsburgh; they host the contending Cubs in the first week of August, followed by a series with the LA Dodgers. They then hit the road to take on St. Louis, who has the best home record in the league. The Bucs then follow that trip up, with a stint at Citi against hot-at-home Mets.
The Giants meanwhile have their first nine days of August on the road before returning home to take on the AL West leading Houston Astros, the Washington Nationals, St Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates. They then round out the month with a few more home dates against the Cubs and Cards, before heading to LA to take on the division leading Dodgers.
Finally, the Chicago Cubs are doing everything they can to buck their losing trend. They’ll have the best chance, along with the Mets, at snatching up those two Wild Card berths in the end.
They still have two more series with the Brewers, along with more dates against the Braves, Phillies, Diamondbacks and Tigers in their final two months of work. Of all of the remaining WC contenders, they are facing the most sub .500 clubs.
So while the road may not be that easy for New York the rest of the way, as you can see, it could be a lot worse. Or in other words, forget what FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus say, I love our chances to make the postseason and personally, I think we’ll win the division for this season and the next five after that at the very least. The Mets have arrived and are here to stay.
