Mets takeaways: Francisco Lindor hopes for victory, Pete Alonso gets ovation, 6 outs for Edwin Díaz

NEW YORK — In a play that captured so much of the charm of the New York Mets’ season so far, a throw from catcher Francisco Alvarez hit third base, preventing the tying point in the ninth inning. Of course, closer Edwin Díaz promptly made the last out to secure the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night. Instead of the Phillies celebrating a division title in the Mets’ home stadium, New York was able to significantly expand its own playoff position.

After winning three of four games against the Phillies, the Mets can secure a playoff spot by winning the three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. The Mets flew to Atlanta on Sunday night for the series that begins Tuesday. New York (87-69) has the same record as the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Braves are two games behind them and still have a playoff spot. There are six games left.

Here are five takeaways as the Mets head into the final week of the season.

This time the Mets showed the right personality

Pete Alonso made a good point before Sunday’s game.

“People will think ‘OMG’ or ‘Grimace’ when they think of the 2024 Mets,” Alonso said, “but the only word that comes to mind is ‘resilient.'”

This trait is different from the Mets’ recent successes, especially in 2022, when they blew their lead in Atlanta and were eliminated early as a wild-card team. As Alonso also mentioned, the Mets were unable to handle the tasks in 2022 before the final series, when Atlanta swept them. They lost a couple of series to non-playoff teams in early September.

This year’s group has demonstrated different traits in passing previous tests such as long trips against competitors, decoys and major series.

The other key difference between this year’s team and those of previous years is the Mets’ ability to bounce back. They started 0-5. They were 11 games under .500. They also had tough losses in the second half. After challenges, they have pulled themselves together through communication, accountability and, ultimately, crisper play.

At a high level, the Mets have combined confidence and focus. They have never publicly said they were too surprised by their turnaround, and they have never looked too far ahead.

“It’s a nice thing, isn’t it?” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo. “But we’ve worked really hard to get to this position. But the work isn’t done yet. The pressure is just as great in the next game as it was in this one. You have to trust the work we’ve done, the team that got us here.”

Francisco Lindor remains hopeful, but he does not guarantee a return

When asked directly whether he was 100 percent confident of returning after a back injury that kept him out for the last seven games, Francisco Lindor said he was optimistic.

Back problems are notoriously difficult. Lindor has already missed his original timetable of returning within two to five days. Lindor said it’s hard to say if he’ll be ready to play on Tuesday. He’ll have to see how he feels on Monday and then go through a checklist from the training staff.

If Lindor returns, it will not be without pain.

“If I play this year, I don’t think it’s going to be pain free, and that’s OK with me,” Lindor said. “I just don’t want it to be a constant pain where I can’t bend over. Then I’m putting my teammates in a position where I’m not helping them as much as I can. That’s not fair to anyone. For me, it’s a situation where if it hurts, it’s going to come and go.”

Lindor described his work on Sunday as “another slow step in the right direction.” He resumed taking batting practice and catching ground balls. He said his back doesn’t hurt when he throws, which is an improvement from last week. But consider this: Lindor mentioned having to roll out of bed last week. It sounded like he accomplished what he set out to do on Sunday and that the threshold was what he expected. He has yet to face live pitching.

“We’d like to have him back,” Nimmo said, “but we want him back as he is and we don’t want to put too much pressure on him or anything; there’s a bigger picture ahead.”

As expected, Alonso received appropriate recognition

At 7:33 p.m., just before Alonso’s first at-bat, the sold-out crowd gave him a standing ovation and chanted his name. The Mets’ hard-hitting first baseman, a homegrown star, tipped his hat. At that moment, he said, he thought to himself, “Wow, this is like a movie.”

The thing is, Alonso isn’t ready to be credited yet. Alonso, manager Carlos Mendoza and others have stressed that they expect more home games in 2024, but that would require the Mets to make the playoffs and then win a wild-card series. So it was only right that the home crowd recognize him at the final home game of the regular season – they chanted his name before and during every batting appearance, but he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts – since he will be a free agent after the World Series ends.

“It’s like something out of a storybook,” said Alonso.

SIX OUTS OF SUGAR 🔥🎺 pic.twitter.com/bZg81GIGif

— New York Mets (@Mets) 23 September 2024

Díaz seemed ready for the “time as a big boy”

Mendoza has been cautious and kept Díaz from doing too much work all season. Now it’s time to be aggressive. For the first time since August 2022, Díaz recorded a save with six outs.

“Now it’s time for the big boy,” said Mendoza. “And he’s our man.”

With the Mets leading 2-1 and the Phillies fielding their best team, Mendoza brought in Díaz in the eighth inning. Díaz responded, striking out Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper on 12 pitches. Despite recording four outs and throwing 17 pitches the day before, Díaz’s fastball averaged 98.7 mph in the eighth inning.

Once the inning was over, Mendoza talked to Diaz to make sure he was OK with another pitch. Diaz was willing. Mendoza said he would keep it short with Diaz in the ninth inning; he had right-hander Ryne Stanek warm up. Diaz needed 18 pitches in the ninth inning, bringing his total for the evening to 30.

Although Mendoza was somewhat reticent about whether Díaz would be available on Tuesday, the right-hander said he would be ready if necessary.

“This is our playoff game,” Díaz said. “We’ve been playing playoff games since the beginning of September. I have to be ready every day and I know I’ll be ready on Tuesday.”

Nimmo came at the right time

From the beginning of the second half of the season through September 15 – 49 games – Nimmo hit three home runs.

Then a decisive, final home game of the regular season began.

Nimmo has hit three home runs in his last five games. His solo home run against Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning was the difference. Without Lindor, the Mets have received offensive growth from a number of other players, from outfielder Tyrone Taylor (RBI single on Sunday) to rookie shortstop Luisangel Acuña to Alvarez. Nimmo was in a deep slump before breaking out at just the right time.

“Experience helps,” Nimmo said. “I’ve been in these situations before, I’ve been able to draw on experience and try other methods and not get it done. I’m really at a loss for words for the guys who are so young to get through these situations and move on immediately, because that’s hard. Just trying to keep things simple has helped me help the team.”

(Pete Alonso Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)