The season is over for the New York Mets.
101 wins weren’t enough to capture their first NL East title since 2015.
Thus, they were forced to play in the Wild Card round, where they were knocked out by the San Diego Padres.
However, just one more win would have granted them the division title.
It could have come at any point in the season.
But the Mets ultimately squandered a 10.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves and found themselves in the Wild Card Series.
One Mets insider pointed out that if they had won just one more game, it would be them preparing to host the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS.
Hard not to think how close the Mets were to a wildly different setup in October. One more win in Atlanta — maybe one more win anywhere — and they’d be preparing to host the Phillies in a Division Series starting tomorrow.
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) October 10, 2022
Mets Fall Short
Ultimately, realizing that fact doesn’t change anything.
The results are the results and at the crucial moment, the Mets faltered.
But it could have all been avoided had they just managed to win one more game in the regular season.
They would have been able to avoid the Wild Card Series altogether.
Unfortunately, they fell apart at the worst possible time.
Ultimately, this could be something people point to when they unpack everything that went wrong for the Mets.
It’s certainly something that would have changed a lot of things.
The Braves would have then been the Wild Card team who had to host the Padres, which could have been an interesting series.
But it all goes to show that there is merit in winning your division with the new playoff format.
You can avoid the Wild Card round altogether if you’re one of the top two teams, which the Mets were for much of the season.
Now, the season is over, and the Mets and their fans are left questioning what could have been.
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