It’s been a back-and-forth battle between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies all season long.
Both National League East contenders have been very streaky. They’ve got strong lineups that have slightly underperformed at times, and though the Phillies have the stronger rotation on paper, the Mets have kept pace statistically all year.
However, both teams knew they needed to address their bullpens at the deadline, and they did so emphatically. The Phillies nabbed one of the most electric closers available in Jhoan Duran, while the Mets beefed up with Ryan Helsley, Tyler Rogers and Gregory Soto. They both grabbed rental outfielders as well: Harrison Bader for the Phillies, Cedric Mullins for the Mets.
Now that both teams have built their best possible rosters, the race is on for an all-important division title that could also come with a first-round bye in the postseason.
On Sunday, Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller predicted that the Mets, who entered play Monday trailing the Phillies by half a game, would finish second in the division, securing one of the NL’s three wild-card spots.
“Who needs a farm system anyway? The Mets sent a combined five prospects to the Orioles for Cedric Mullins and Gregory Soto, three to the Cardinals for Ryan Helsley and three to the Giants for Tyler Rogers,” wrote Miller.
“They didn’t part with anything close to a top 100 prospect for that quarter of two-month rentals, though, and the bullpen improved from a gigantic question mark to a position of strength. We’ll see whether the Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde version of Mullins shows up for them in center field, though.”
If there’s one very obvious silver lining to a potential second-place finish, it’s that the Mets took down the division-winning Phillies as a wild-card team in last year’s National League Division Series in four games.
However, it shouldn’t be taken for granted that the Mets can once again catch lightning in a bottle during the Wild Card Series, and this team should do all it can to chase down a division title for the first time in 10 years.
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