Why the New York Mets Will Win the Wild Card

(photo credit: nydailynews.com)

The last place Atlanta Braves (61-91) who are 27.5 games behind the NL East leading Washington Nationals, just swept the New York Mets in a three-game series this week. New York bounced back the following night against the Philadelphia Phillies, winning 9-8. The Mets were below .500 as recently as mid-August, but went 15-4 between Aug. 20 and Sept. 9. That stretch of play allowed the Mets to climb back into the Wild Card hunt. New York is now 6-6 in their last 12 games. If the Mets had taken care of business against Atlanta, they'd be running away with one of the National League's Wild Card spots.

As of now, though, the Mets find themselves in a three-way tie with the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals for the final two Wild Card spots. The Giants who had the best record in the majors prior to the All-Star break, now have the worst record in the majors since the All-Star game. One of the main reasons for the Giants collapse has been their bullpen, which seems to find ways to lose games, night in and night out.

The Cardinals on the other hand, have found themselves playing .500 baseball. So far in September, the Cardinals are 10-10 despite the fact that they've played the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and the struggling Giants.

Despite the Mets ability to hit homeruns, they continue to struggle when it comes to scoring runs for the most of the season due to their inability to put runners on base before they hit those homeruns. The injuries to the Mets starting rotation have left them with some not so well known pitchers behind Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon. New York is hoping to get their star lefty, Steven Matz, back from an ailing arm injury, and with their recent reshuffling of their lineup, hope to be heading in a positive direction offensively.

You only have to look at each of the club's schedules in order to determine which two clubs will move on to the Wild Card game.

The Cardinals have one series each remaining against the Reds (63-89), Pirates (76-75) and a Cubs (97-55) team that has already clinched the NL Central. If the Cardinals want to make it to the Wild Card game, they'll have to play much better than .500 baseball.

The Giants face the Padres (64-88) and Rockies (73-79), before they take on the NL West leading Dodgers (86-66) - who will likely have clinched the division by the time that series starts.

The Mets have arguably the easiest schedule of all three teams. With a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies (69-83), followed by a three-game series with the Miami Marlins (76-76), and a three-game series against the Phillies to close out the season.

Given who the Mets have to play, they're most likely to claim the top Wild Card spot, but advancing past the Wild Card game is a different matter entirely.