Thankfully, the Mets no longer have to see the Marlins this season. And, a potential trip to the postseason won’t hinge on it either.
It does seem that the Mets have hit a roadblock and a visit over the weekend from the inner-city rival Yankees with the division still up for grabs does not make the Flushing faithful all too confident.
“We had such an emotional high going, coming out of Atlanta. I think you are seeing just a little bit of drainage on the system,” said Mets’ manager Terry Collins. “If there was a day off coming, I think it’s coming at the right time. I think we need to get away for a little bit. We are going to come back and it’s going to be pretty exciting starting Friday. We need to pick the energy level up a little bit.”
However, it wasn’t all that long ago that Collins’ squad reeled off eight wins in a row. Actually, it was only Tuesday that their winning streak was snapped.
And on Wednesday night, Collins turned to a less-than-attractive batting order to take aim at Marlins’ left-hander Mike Conley. The sight of having Eric Campbell and Juan Lagares back on Collins’ lineup card made the regurgitating memories of pre-Cespedes Met baseball stir up again.
It is understood that Campbell and Lagares were both in there to solidify a dominant right-handed lineup against the southpaw. But, sometimes, or even most of the time in Collins case, it is not about playing it “by the book”.
A strong hold on first place does yield some relief though. It now allows a two-day rest period for players such as Curtis Granderson, Michael Conforto, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy, all of whom did not have a plate appearance in Wednesday’s 6-0 loss, before the start of the Subway Series on Friday.
And in Collins’ opinion, this upcoming three-game set, that holds more water in the fans’ eyes than the players, is just another baseball game.
“We have got to look at it (The Subway Series) as a baseball game. Nothing more than that,” Collins commented. “Just because the place is going to be crowded and it is an inner-city rivalry, we have got to look at it as a baseball game. We need to approach it like it’s the Washington Nationals walking in here. Look, it’s a game we have got to go play. We’re playing for something big, they are also. Very similar to when we played the Nationals. There are going to be big crowds and a lot of noise and we have got to go out and play. You can’t worry about who it is.”
Collins added earlier, about if the energy of the Subway Series will do the Mets some good: “I think so, yes. A lot has been made of this weekend coming up. It’s now here and we have to get ready for it.”
Even if the Amazins’ were to go 7-9 the rest of the way, the Nationals would have to go 15-2 just to tie.
Relax. The time will come soon enough.