The New York Mets are fighting for a chance to make the 2024 MLB playoffs, but the regular season series they are in the midst of against the Philadelphia Phillies is giving them a real taste of what the postseason environment will be like if they’re still playing come October.
Mets LHP Sean Manaea issues pragmatic take on playoff-level intensity vs. Phillies
Mets star pitcher Sean Manaea surely felt a playoff-type of intensity when he took the mound against the Phillies (92-63) on Saturday. He excelled against the No. 2 seed in the National League, allowing three earned runs in seven innings of work while tossing six strikeouts against 24 batters faced to give the Mets a 6-3 win in their series opener.
Per SNY, following the pivotal victory, Manaea had this to say about how this level of intensity can serve the Mets well down the stretch of the year:
“You know, we just got to keep, day by day, game by game, you know, we’re in this position. Been grinding the whole year. It doesn’t really make a difference what city we are in or who we’re playing. We can only control the things that we can and, yeah at the end of the day we can just do that,” Manaea told the media.
Citi Field took Brandon Nimmo up on his challenge and gave Manaea a boost on Saturday
The 32-year-old’s star teammate Brandon Nimmo called on the Mets’ fanbase to show out at Citi Field and rock the house for their series against the Phillies after their 10-0 rout of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. By Manaea’s own comments, it appears that Nimmo made an impression on the New Yorkers who cheered on their home team against the Bryce Harper-led World Series contenders.
Ultimately, Manaea is right in that the Mets should be playing playoff-level baseball no matter where they play or against who. New York has one more game to try and keep Philadelphia from clinching the No. 1 overall seed in the NL, and after that, will face the most important three-game set of their entire season against the Atlanta Braves (85-71) on the road in what will more likely than not determine which of the two teams locks up the second and final Wild Card spot in the league.
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The Braves are 1.5 games back from the Mets and could close the gap once their series ends. They’ll also close the campaign with a three-game test against the Milwaukee Brewers (88-67).
Thus, Manaea, who owns a 12-5 record with 183 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA, will need to approach his final start of the year, which will likely come at the beginning of the Brewers slate, with the same mindset that he expressed to the media. His excellent play post-All-Star break suggests that he can and will close out the year on a high note, position the Mets to solidify their playoff surge, and gather enough momentum from the high-stakes atmosphere hovering over the team to compete come postseason time. He just has to help lead them there to bring that all to life.
