NEW YORK — When Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the seventh inning, reality turned Citi Field's a cappella rendition of “My Girl” into a faint murmur.
It seemed appropriate given the fun we've had over the past few months and what's at stake and how things are right now.
The New York Mets season is coming to an end.
The Mets are facing elimination after another lackluster performance in the National League Championship Series. On Thursday night, they lost 10-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a game that looked completely dominated. Also. They defeated the Dodgers in the series, 3 wins and 1 loss.
What's worse than these numbers is that the Mets look like they're out of gas as the team faces such a deficit and still mounts a comeback.
“Sean (Manaea) said that the other day,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said when asked if his rotation had hit the proverbial wall.
Manaea said Monday when asked about his final innings after his start. I mean, I don't know, I just hit a wall. I'm obviously not trying to do that. There really is no other excuse. ”
So Mendoza continued…
“We ask them a lot of things,” he said. “And we're playing a good team. You have to give credit to those guys. It's a deep lineup. It's a good lineup. And whether they feel it or not, I have to give credit to those guys. We’re not executing and we’re not getting length from them.”
The problem could be found elsewhere, as there is more than one reason why the Mets lost 30-9 in the NL CS, but the rotation is as good a place as any to start.
New York relied heavily on strong starting pitching during the final months of the regular season, but that had its pitfalls. The Mets' veteran rotation has recovered from injuries and has less of a workload than it did a year ago, and the more quality games they provide, the more fears they will pay in taxes. Unfortunately for the Mets, that deadline surfaced in mid-October.
Jose Quintana will be a year older and pitched 100 more innings than he was in 2023. (Photo: Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Mets' path to winning the postseason included camouflaging a shallow bullpen in October, believing that their starting pitchers could pitch deeper into games than most pitchers on other teams. That didn't work against the Dodgers, whose batting lineup is full of stars and is generally responsible for at-bat discipline.
Game 4 starter Jose Quintana, 35 years old and with over 100 more innings total than he had when he was a year younger, had few chances. The Dodgers counteracted his edgy style, allowing four walks, five hits, and five runs in just 3 1/3 innings. By the time Quintana scored, the Mets were down 5-2.
Mendoza said earlier this week that even though starting pitchers were getting additional rest, rest days were a key part of the calculations when determining the NLCS rotation.
“I think it ultimately depends on where they are physically,” Mendoza said. “Those three (Quintana, Manaea, Luis Severino) are in an area they haven't been in before.”
Through four games, no Mets starting pitcher recorded an out in the sixth inning. On the Dodgers side, Game 1 starting pitcher Jack Flaherty was the only one to accomplish this feat after pitching seven innings. But that's part of the difference between the Mets and Dodgers. Los Angeles can win in other ways, too, such as relying on multiple leverage arms looming in the bullpen.
Once Quintana was out, the Mets turned to relief pitcher Jose Butt. Once a late-game mainstay, Butt was relegated to less stressful situations in the playoffs due to inconsistent performance. Butt allowed the two runners he inherited to score. This will be his first season as a steady contributor on a major league roster. Also, he began the season as a starter. Out of gas?
In Game 5, left-handed pitcher David Peterson will start for the Mets. as The Athletic As previously reported, he was always floated as an option for Kodai Senga unless the Mets took him out of the bullpen first.
Peterson stands out as the Mets' best option, but he hasn't started a game since Sept. 29, pitching multiple innings in relief since then, and appeared in the third inning on Oct. 5. did.
“We've been through a lot this year,” Peterson said. “It shaped us into who we are today.”
The Mets hope to survive an unlikely season that includes Grimas and OMG. (Photo: Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)
Lindor added, “If you don't believe, you shouldn't be here. You have to believe. You have to fight for what you want. You have to fight for it.”
From New York's perspective, the season isn't over yet. Mets discussed adding a new chapter to the wild plot, including a page about OMG and Grimas. On Friday, The Temptations will perform “My Girl” after the national anthem. Yes, this is also an actual text about the 2024 Mets. They hope to write some more unlikely ones.
Inside the clubhouse, there was a common theme that players drew from their pasts. Multiple players pointed out that the Mets were losing in Milwaukee until the last out. However, that was during the Wild Card Series. It wasn't a three-game winning streak. It was only a few weeks ago, but it feels like forever ago. A lot has happened since then.
And it's not just the Mets' rotation that seems to be running out of gas this series. Position players like Jose Iglesias and Francisco Alvarez also haven't had much success. Brandon Nimmo is battling plantar fasciitis, but to his credit, continues to hustle every ground ball.
The Mets have overcome many challenges. The players walked a path full of inspirational hope, while recognizing the gravity of this special mission. The Mets shouldn't be ruled out completely, but longstanding concerns about how they overcame previous tests may finally be catching up with them.
(Top photo of Mets in the dugout: Frank Franklin II/Associated Press)
