Major League Baseball

How the Mets need 'everything out of everybody' and keep getting it

Updated Sep. 23, 2024 3:15 p.m. ET

NEW YORK — A look inside the Mets clubhouse after one of their biggest wins of the season revealed nothing out of the ordinary.

Sean Manaea and Luis Severino were finishing up a game of pool. Carlos Mendoza, cap off and hair disheveled, stopped by to survey the billiard table. Francisco Álvarez was roaming around wearing a smile and a red suit, getting ready for the team's late-night flight to Atlanta. Francisco Lindor was doing his best to make sure his two daughters stayed out of the way and in his sight (his 3-year-old touched a reporter's recorder before asking what it was). Pete Alonso, minutes after playing what could be his final home game as a Met, sat relaxed at his locker waiting his turn for a scrum with reporters.

It was just like any other day, any other game, for the playoff-hungry Mets.

So what if they just handled the Phillies in a high-energy four-game series win? What does it matter that they're in a pennant race — just one more series win standing in the way of clinching a playoff spot? Looking at the Mets' composed and upbeat postgame clubhouse, it was hard to tell that, just outside the ballpark, countless fans were still celebrating their latest victory by jumping, dancing and chanting underneath the subway tracks. The ups and downs of their unexpected season, however extreme, have taught players to stay centered by refraining from getting too far ahead of themselves.

"It's a beautiful thing, right? We worked really hard to get into this position, but the job's not done," Brandon Nimmo said Sunday, not long after hitting a go-ahead home run against Zack Wheeler. "There's just as much pressure on the next game as there was on this one. You just have to trust the work that we've put in and the team that's gotten us to this point. Look to the guys next to you and believe in them and trust them and know that everybody's going to give their best effort. It sure makes it fun."

A lot has been said of the Mets' eccentricities this year, from Jose Iglesias' hit single "OMG" warping into the team's rallying cry, to the shameless presence of the bright purple blob that is Grimace filtering into the organization's psyche. Perhaps the fun and games have overshadowed the serious work the Mets have done to reach this point. It takes genuine discipline to stay focused on every pitch, and go inning-to-inning before going day-to-day. While the team is attempting to climb Mount Everest, it has split up the great challenge into smaller, more achievable hurdles that can be overcome.

Edwin Díaz's first career six-out save was the latest obstacle. All season, Mendoza protected the Mets closer, who missed all of last year with a knee injury, from too heavy of a workload. Díaz entered Sunday having thrown more than 20 pitches just eight times out of his 52 appearances this season. But this weekend against the Phillies, Mendoza decided it was time to unleash him. After Díaz completed a 30-pitch, four-out save on Saturday, Mendoza asked him to record six outs against the heart of the Phillies order on Sunday. Two innings, a mound visit from the manager, and 30 pitches later, Díaz sealed the 2-1 Mets win while the crowd of 43,139 exploded and roared.

"I said, ‘This is your game, and I'll be right behind you, pumping you up,'" Mendoza told Díaz before he went back out for the ninth inning. "We've been protecting him the whole year, and now it's big boy time."

Having a feel for the game and knowing when to take calculated risks and be aggressive are some of the qualities that have defined the first-year manager. Díaz said Mendoza's words to him during the two-inning save gave him the fortitude to get the job done, a moment packed with extra meaning when considering Díaz was briefly demoted from closing duties back in May largely due to confidence issues. Nimmo applauded Mendoza for jogging to the mound and giving Díaz a breather after he walked a batter in the ninth. It has stood out to players that Mendoza has taken the time and care to get to know each member of the organization, so that he can be better prepared to manage them.

By building that stable foundation, Mendoza can be more fearless in his decision-making, particularly as he navigates the many challenges that have defined the Mets season. The club's latest complication is how to continue to succeed as their franchise shortstop deals with a nagging back injury.

"If I play [again] this year, I don't think it's going to be pain-free," Lindor, who has missed eight games, said Sunday at Citi Field. "And I'm OK with that. I don't want it to be a constant pain where I can't bend over. Then I put my teammates in a position where I'm not helping them as much as I can. That's not fair for anybody."

Lindor's injury updates have thrown freezing cold water on what had otherwise been an exciting stretch of games for the Mets. The shortstop couldn't walk and was rolling out of bed last Sunday after his back tightened up on him. Though his mobility is slowly improving, it remains unclear if Lindor will progress to the point where he can play this week against the Braves or the Brewers. Still, the Mets responded to losing their leadoff hitter by winning six of their next seven games. Two more victories in Atlanta will give them a playoff berth.

How long can the Mets sustain this run of magic without Lindor, their MVP-caliber shortstop who helped get them this close to October baseball?

If the Mets showed us anything in Lindor's absence this past week, or since the first week of April when they opened the season 0-5, it's that they can rise to the occasion by squeezing the most out of every player on their 28-man roster. Look no further than Luisangel Acuña's first week in the big leagues. Acuña took over shortstop duties for Lindor and is batting .379 (11-for-29) with a 1.228 OPS and three home runs through his first nine games. The Mets rotation, lacking a true ace amid Kodai Senga's virtual year-long absence, has stepped up and recorded the third-best starting pitching ERA (3.38) since the All-Star break. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor, a role player, is batting .414 with a 1.155 OPS over the past two weeks.

"Here we are," Mendoza said Sunday. "Needing everything out of everybody."

The Mets have defied the odds all year, in part because they aren't waiting for anybody to lead them. While the payroll is inflated — Steve Cohen's club continues to lead Major League Baseball in spending — the roster is not loaded. President of baseball operations David Stearns came to Queens and brought his staple of adding at the margins with him, creating a team that relies on a total committee. What Cohen, Stearns and Mendoza couldn't have known was how well the 2024 Mets would play together, and the team chemistry that they would create.

That chemistry — underscored by their discipline and fearlessness — has led them to this point: meaningful September baseball. With October in reach, how far will that take them?

"This is what our identity is," Alonso said, his focus squarely on the present and not his Mets past or uncertain future. "We fight and scratch for every pitch, every out. A game like today really shows our character and who we are.

"We've got some more meat left on the bone of this season. We still have work to do. We need to finish."

Deesha Thosar is an MLB reporter for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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