With just 55 games remaining on their schedule, the Mets find themselves in the middle of a neck and neck race: the race for the wild card. While the Mets have been struggling by losing 7 of their last 10 and encountering injuries to Asdrubel Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes, the other teams competing with them haven't been great as well. The Miami Marlins are 4-6 in their last 10, including a current 3 game losing streak. With these struggles to the Mets and others, the Mets are currently just 2 games out of the second wild card spot.
Although the Mets are just 2 games out of the wild card spot, the team and the fans can not, and should not, be satisfied. The team that miraculously made the World Series last season has had nowhere near the same success. The consistent and successful pitching staff from last year has been up and down all year. The power hitting group from the post season is in last place in the National League for batting average with runners in scoring position.
In order to try to help their batting, the Mets acquired OF Jay Bruce from the Cincinnati Reds before the trade deadline early this week. However, since joining New York, Bruce has gone hitless while drawing one walk. With Bruce and the rest of the team struggling to hit consistently, fans relied on Cespedes, as usual, to bring some hope. However, after Wednesday's loss to the Yankees, Terry Collins announced that Cespedes is going to be placed on the 15-day DL. Yet another blow to this struggling Mets team.
Catching the Nationals while being 8.5 games behind them seems very unlikely. So, the Mets focus as of right now is to win one game at a time and continue to compete in the Amazin' Race.
Writer: Brendan Carpenter