By Mike Rifkin
Halloween is still a month away, but for the New York Mets they’ll be entering their haunted house a month earlier. The 2022 New York Mets led the NL East by 10 games at one point during the season. In late September the Mets played their division rival the Atlanta Braves, with one goal in mind: win a game to win the division. The Mets rolled out their top three starters in Max Scherzer, Jacob DeGrom and Chris Bassitt, and the Mets were swept by the Braves and relegated to a Wild Card spot. I’ve always felt that the 2023 Mets failed because they couldn’t get over the failures of 2022.
The 2024 versions of both the Mets and the Braves have had to overcome multiple obstacles. For the Braves it’s been injuries to important players. For the Mets it’s been 11 games under .500, injuries, guys struggling, etc… But once again it all comes down to this a massive series in Atlanta, if the Mets win two of three, they’ll clinch a wild card spot, if the Mets lose two of three then they go into the final weekend of the season with a one game lead in the Wild Card.
Atlanta has been a house of horrors for the Mets, they are 187-273 all time in Atlanta, including 25-36 at Truist Park. On a positive note the Mets did win the only other series in Atlanta earlier this season. With the season series tied five wins a piece, whoever wins this series will have the tiebreaker over the other (if needed). But for the Mets they can erase what happened in 2022 by winning this series and go to the playoffs, which most thought was not obtainable when they went 11 games under .500. The Mets have played so well since June, overcoming a lot of obstacles, but their biggest obstacle is the one that has stood in front of them before.
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