NL East
Mets, 74-60
Phillies, 73-60, -.5
Marlins, 68-65, -5.5
NL Wild Card
Brewers, 77-56
Cardinals, 74-60, -3.5
Phillies, 73-60, -4
Marlins, 68-65, -9
With 28 games left for the Mets and 29 left for Philly, you can see it may come down to the final weekend of the season yet again. The second-place finisher will be hard-pressed to win the wild card, too, with the Brewers surging and playing well behind Braun, C.C. and the Prince.
Let’s now take a look at the Mets and Phillies schedules from now until the end of September:
METS (74-60) — 15 home, 13 road
@ FLA for 3
@ MIL for 3
vs. PHI for 3
vs. WSH for 2
vs. ATL for 3
@ WSH for 4
@ ATL for 3
vs. CHI for 4
vs. FLA for 3
PHILLIES (73-60) — 13 home, 16 road
@ CHI for 4
@ WSH for 3
@ NYM for 3
vs. FLA for 3
vs. MIL for 4
@ ATL for 3
@ FLA for 3
vs. ATL for 3
vs. WSH for 3
More home games: METS 15-13
Games against Cubs/Brewers: PHILLIES 8-7
Those, my friends, are the only two differences in the strength of their schedules, however, the Mets play the final 17 days of the season, from Sept. 12-28. The Phillies will have two days off in that span, plus they close with two series’ against Atlanta, one against Florida (which may be out of it by then) and one with Washington. The Mets have Washington, Atlanta and Florida each once, but they also have four with the Cubs.
I think the Mets have the slight edge, but only if they take a one or two-game lead into the final week of the year. That four-game set with the Cubbies could be enough to tip the scales against them.
20 Comments
Josh, I must say I really love what you’ve been doing here on this blog lately.
Well done! I like it a lot.
The Cubs series will only be important to the Cubs if they have not clinched by then. Let’s hope they have. If so, I would give more than a slight edge since Phils play both Cubs and Brewers while they both are still trying to win a playoff spot.
Carlos for MVP?
In a year where no one has particularly stood out I think Met’s fans owe it to “Mr. Delagado” to start a Carlos for MVP campaign. Look at the numbers everybody, he has basically carried the team for 6 weeks now and is starting to get really hot again! Let’s look at the other candidates and you guys tell me what you think….
1) Ryan Howard….Despite his RBI and HR numbers he will likely break the all time StrikeOut record, he cant possibly win MVP with that!
2) Chase Utley….Blazing hot start, but just playing ok since then. He is out in my book.
3) David Wright…Despite the 100 RBIs does anyone else who watches the Mets every night think he really deserves it? He hasnt really even gotten hot. Great numbers for an okay season, he will get his MVP award folks, just not this year.
4) Jose Reyes….probably a top 3 candidate if you look at the overall total package. His candidacy will depend on his September but I just dont think he has meant as much to the Metsies as Mr. Delgado.
5) Albert Puljols…Great numbers as usual but not even the best candidate on his team.
6) Ryan Ludwick….Great season! I think he needs to have a stellar September to really have a chance, he could even have Triple Crown numbers with an amazing month. Probably will get overlooked considering the one year wonder possibility and the fact that the team will likely fail to make the playoffs
7) Lance Berkman…Great numbers for the future HOFer but the teams lack of success will hurt him.
9) Aramis Ramirez…Have to have a Cub in the mix considering the team’s success but probably doesnt have the numbers. Plus they are a total team effort and one player doesnt make that team have success.
10)Ryan Braun….This guy is good, but strikes out too much with a low OBP so I dont think he will get much of a looksie.
So as you can see, its a wide open field so I say why not! At the very least we owe it to the guy to show our appreciation for carrying this team this year. And who knows, if we make enough noise…..
and yes I realize I cant count…..
Of course, those games might not have a ton of importance to the Cubs. Plus the games are at Shea and not on the road which is a plus. I said in another thread that I thought the games after this Philly series were going to be big…Florida because it gives the Mets a chance to knock them out of the running, and the Brewers because it can help the Mets get closer to the wild card. I still believe it.
Steve,
On top of your point regarding the Brewers and the wild card, The phillies will be playing/beating up on the Nats during that series. So it is doubly important for the mets to play well.
Hard pressed Steve O to see Mets doing more than 3-3 in these 6 games.
Mets need to continue to play .500 BB agianst good teams and beat up on Atl, Nats in the 12 games they have w/them in Sept.
Then hopefully do well against a Cubs team already in and a Fla team out of it at the end of the season.
MVP-w/no clear frontrunner it will come down to who is the hotest and who’s team gets to playoffs.
But if this award was better named Best Player Award, Berkman should get it.
scoop, with no frontrunner, that is why I think Delgado should be given a looksie. IMO he has meant more to the Metsies success than anyone else to their own team. When he got hot we started to win!
Both teams have almost the exact amount of games to play against for the rest of the season.
But it maybe an advantage that the Mets play the Cubs which may have already won their division but the Phil’s will be playing them when they are still in hot pursuit to win it.
And they do have one more game to play against a tough Milwaukie team.
And with one more factor, it is very possible that Jerry can work it out that the Mets can have Santana, Pelfrey, and Perez face the Phil’s in their last three games in Shea.
Those items can be a big issue on this last pursuit of happiness.
well said fredsaid!!! Made me realize that we have missed Hamels a few times this season….
Looks like MVP is to close to call, guess who does real good until the end of the season, and do it on a team that gets into the playoffs will get the best shot to win.
And the Mets do have three players in the hot pursuit.
Pujols is leading the NL in OBP and SLG. He is the MVP.
Fred in your pitching match up you may want to include that while it looks like we will be seeing in MIL next week CC is scheduled to go on Sunday so we’d miss him and looks like we’d miss Suppan who has killed us.
We’ll be seeing Sheets i meant
The last two weeks of last proved the value of looking at schedules and deciding someone has an edge. We heard over and over that the Mets couldn’t possibly choke because we played only the hapless Marlins and Nats. Right. I know I enjoyed the clinching party.
Hopefully, The Mets can win 2 of 3 in florida while the phils lose 3 of 4 in Chi town. That will give them a little breathing room. The last week is definitely advantage to Phillies, so Mets have to make hay now.
Harry,
Very well said.
To Chitis point, Last year was an aberration, something that happens once in a lifetime. I will take Atlanta and Washington over the Cubs and Marlins anyday. I would hate to be tied with Philly going into that last week never mind trailing by a game or two.
I saw all I needed to see from the METS tuesday night in the biggest game so far this season they could not hold a seven run lead against the Phils.David Wright has had the softest 100 RBI season in the majors as any smart Met would agree.Pitchers are not afraid to pitch to David with runners on base.HE does not strike fear in any pitcher.Delgado now seeks the media out.Where has he been hiding for the last 2 years??The MVP will come from the Chicago Cubs.