Mets need to figure it out with playoff destiny still in their hands

MILWAUKEE — The Mets were ticketed to play between two to four more regular-season games heading into Saturday night’s matchup here in what has to be one of the more unusual, and possibly unhappy, season endings ever. Their chances to make the playoffs look decent on paper (more on that below), but they have even more issues than games, no matter how many it turns out to be — whether it be two, three or four. 

1. The Mets played poorly the first couple games on their most momentous trip (but the combinations and permutations are still working somewhat favorably, believe it or not). Hard as it is to believe, they could clinch here but cannot be eliminated before they leave, thanks to holding the tiebreaker over the similarly struggling Diamondbacks. 

2. J.D. Martinez, a noted hitting savant, fell to 0-for-his-last-35 once his pop fly that popped out of Brewers second baseman Brice Turang’s glove was ruled an error Friday. (Martinez was out of Saturday’s lineup). 

3. Francisco Lindor looked like he’s hurting even while gathering two hits in his first full game in two weeks. It’s uncomfortable bending over, so shortstop isn’t easy now. 

“The pain would come and go so I’m happy with that,” Lindor said after the Mets dropped game one here 8-4 to a Brewers team that looks better. (The Mets noticed, too, and Lindor was DH-ing Saturday.) 

4. They can’t stop Milwaukee’s running game. The Brewers swiped six bases Friday, not to mention adding bases on two wild pitches and a passed ball as the Mets rushed to quell baseball’s speediest team (Turang, Garrett Mitchell and Blake Perkins look like three-fourths of an Olympic sprint team.) 

5. Francisco Alvarez is in pain, too. He left with back spasms, so while he’s feeling “way better,” they replaced him in the lineup Saturday with Luis Torrens, who they picked up for pocket change from the Yankees ($100,000). 

6. Unless they can avoid the trip back to Atlanta by virtue of a combination of three Mets wins/D-Backs defeats, their pitching is about to get messy thanks to the likely necessity to play one or two games down south. Manager Carlos Mendoza admitted he considered removing Friday’s starter Sean Manaea after falling behind 5-0 early in hopes of saving bullets. 

One big plus: the belief is they won’t need to return to Atlanta on Monday if both teams are already in and only seeding is left to be decided. Remarkably, as of Saturday afternoon, while they could still clinch a playoff spot here, they could not be eliminated here even after doing nothing positive this trip beyond beating Hurricane Helene out of Atlanta. 

Speaking of nothing positive, Martinez, whose career 131 OPS-plus ties Hall of Famers Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and Wade Boggs, hasn’t had a hit in what seems like a month. Mendoza penciled him into the lineup after not starting for a week. But after he took another 0-fer, he’s back on the bench. 

“I thought I felt good tonight … [but] the proof’s in the pudding,” Martinez conceded. 

The Mets offense is upside down now. The biggest contributors continue to be Mark Vientos and Jose Iglesias, the rookie and extreme veteran who began the season in the minors. Meantime, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo are having statistically so-so seasons — at least based on slash lines — and Martinez even worse. 

Alonso’s 34 home runs rank him among NL leaders, but by his previous standards, his platform year is unquestionably below his norm. He also is looking for a signature moment. (Now might be a good time?) 

Nimmo is improving his base stealing, providing some big hits (believe it or not, he ranks fourth in the NL in win probability added, however that’s figured) and hitting in about the worst luck imaginable. The poor fellow rocketed multiple shots over the foul pole that were ruled foul on guesswork. (He said there are discussions to lengthen the pole, and let’s hope so!) 

With Lindor in pain, Jeff McNeil in sick bay and the biggest boppers in pseudo slumps, the stars may need to start to shine. Vientos and Iglesias need help. 

The Mets technically need no outside help, but continued losing will send them home. It’s in their hands. The three-way tie heading into Saturday’s games (plus the tiebreaker edge at least on Arizona) gives them plenty of hope. But they need to show a better version of themselves. 

There are still too many possibilities to catalogue in this space. But suffice to say, their chances to advance beyond the preliminaries took something of a hit with the prospect of another unwanted trip to Atlanta. And a second-straight dud didn’t help. 

But hope is far from lost. And they are holding onto that. 

“We haven’t played our best,” Mendoza said, “but this team has been through a lot.” 

They came back from down 11 games, so there’s a belief they make it — whether they have two more games to play, or three, or possibly four.