For the first time since 2006, the Mets are heading to the postseason. The team clinched their first NL East title since that 2006 season with Saturday's win over the Reds (NYM 10, CIN 2). They would have clinched with a Nationals loss as well, but the Mets took care of business themselves. New York is now 88-67 overall.
The Mets went 97-65 in 2006, won the division by 12 games, and looked like a perennial contender thanks to prime-age veterans like Carlos Delgado and Carlos Beltran, as well as a pair of impressive 23-year-olds named David Wright and Jose Reyes. The 2006 season was supposed to be only the start for the Mets.
Instead, they lost to the Cardinals in seven games in the NLCS and haven't been back to the postseason since. Their 2007 collapse is one of the most infamous in baseball history -- the Mets were seven games up on the Phillies with 17 to play -- and the team never won more than 79 games from 2009-14.
The Mets definitely did not come into the season as the NL East favorites. That was the Nationals, who looked like the best team in baseball. Everyone knew they were going to run away with the division ... then they didn't. For many reasons. Injuries, poor performance, you name it. It was a little of everything.
The Nationals were a massive disappointment and the Mets took advantage after coming into 2015 as wild-card contenders. We knew their pitching was going to be good but the offense was questionable, and that was painfully obvious in the first half of the season. They averaged only 3.48 runs per game before the All-Star break. It was bad.
The second half has been a much different story. The Mets are averaging 5.31 runs per game since the All-Star break and there are many reasons for that. Trade-deadline pickup Yoenis Cespedes is the big one, but the team also upgraded the bench with Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson, they called up top prospect Michael Conforto, and welcomed both Wright and Travis d'Arnaud back from the DL. The lineup now is much different than the lineup they had before the break.
The pitching? Oh boy. Even with Matt Harvey's innings limit hanging over their head -- he threw 6 2/3 innings Saturday and is up to 183 1/3 innings on the season -- they've gotten high-end performances from Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, and solid work from Bartolo Colon and Jonathon Niese. Steven Matz has helped as well.
Jeurys Familia has emerged as an All-Star-caliber closer, and GM Sandy Alderson went out and got him support at the trade deadline, adding Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed. The Mets are a much deeper team than they were coming into the season. Cespedes is the big name, clearly. The other guys shouldn't be forgotten either. They've been a huge help.
The Mets are the sixth team to clinch a postseason spot this season, joining the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs, Royals, and Blue Jays. The Mets and Royals are the only teams to clinch division titles so far. Seeding still needs to be sorted out, but the only remaining NL postseason spot at this point is the NL West title.
It's worth noting the Mets have the same record as the Dodgers, their likely NLDS opponent. Whoever finishes with the better record will get home-field advantage in the NLDS, which is a big deal. Otherwise, New York's goal for the rest of the season is stay healthy and line up the rotation for the postseason.
