Reese Kaplan -- Not Ideal But the Playoff Hopes Are on Life Support

Having just witnessed the improbable come-from-behind effort to tie the score against the Nationals on Saturday afternoon only to have it fall apart in the 11th inning, well, the will they or won’t they sentiment about the October postseason reared its ugly head once again. 

At this point it almost feels like a flip of a coin whether or not the Mets hang on to make it into a wildcard berth.  Watching the scoreboard for the results from Cincinnati, San Francisco, San Diego and elsewhere is not good for your stomach nor your blood pressure. 

Over this weekend the news filtered out that Tylor Megill is going under the knife for a Tommy John Surgery and will miss the entire 2026 season.  The conclusive recommendation on Reed Garrett is not yet here but the murmurs are that he too might need serious ligament surgery and essentially take him out of 2026 as well.

Also over this weekend the Mets had a poor effort from Brandon Sproat which puts his future role in prospective October baseball in question.  Nolan McLean was much better.  Unfortunately the same can’t be said for the Mets defense which led to unearned runs which stood at a 3-0 lead from most of the Saturday game. 

Word also arrived that after one successful relief outing and paternity leave Sean Manaea is back into the rotation for an upcoming game.  This one is a cross your fingers decision, but when you look at the alternatives of David Peterson and others it is probably necessary.

The bullpen is a very strange place indeed.  Between health and incompetence each time the starter is lifted or another reliever leaves the game you hold your breath and indulge in a strong adult beverage to help you weather the upcoming storm.  However, just when you think you’ve got it all figured out things surprise you.

Take a look at the last four appearances by Ryan Helsley and compare them to first six weeks wearing a Mets uniform and you don’t know if he’s finally figured out what had been wrong for such a long period of time or if he’s just been lucky.  For now, you have to embrace the good outings as unexpected as they are.

Conversely, the heretofore reliable Trevor Rogers was the one who lost the game on an 11th inning long ball on Saturday.  In his case, the track record of good pitching is far longer than one unfortunate inning pitched.  Still, the club needs the side armer to return to what gave him Mets (and Giants) success.

Then there are the others.  Edwin Diaz is there, of course, as is Brooks Raley and Gregory Soto.  After that it’s pretty thin ice.  Chris Devenski, Richard Lovelady, Huascar Brazoban and Ryne Stanek are very much uncertain when they take the mound. 

Then there is the continued uncertainty of the center field position between Cedric Mullins, Jose Siri and a rehabbing Tyrone Taylor.  Throw in the little used members of the infield like Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio.  It’s probably not an ideal roster right now. 

Finally, let’s give a limited shout out to both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos who have combined to provide some good power and run production even if the batting averages are hovering below the league’s mean.