Fansided

End of the World Series: Who is the best bad team 2018 had to offer?

ByJosh Hill|
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 08: Flame canons go off in center field following the the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians on July 8, 2017, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. Cleveland defeated Detroit 4-0. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 08: Flame canons go off in center field following the the Major League Baseball game between the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians on July 8, 2017, at Progressive Field in Cleveland, OH. Cleveland defeated Detroit 4-0. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
7 of 8
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 8: Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets slides safely into second base with a double during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Wednesday August 8, 2018 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 8: Michael Conforto #30 of the New York Mets slides safely into second base with a double during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Wednesday August 8, 2018 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Rob Tringali/SportsChrome/Getty Images)

NLCS – Mets vs. Reds

Key Storylines: Can the Mets help David Wright ride off into the sunset with some scrap of respect? His absence has been a hole the Mets have found impossible to fill, both on the field and in the clubhouse. Wright is a fan favorite who seemed habitually unable to catch a break, and this postseason ride sees the Mets barreling down the highway to hell with the top down and Wright in his best King Of The World pose.

Results

Game 1 – Reds 1, Mets 3
Game 2 – Reds 0, Mets 2
Game 3 – Mets 8, Reds 2
Game 4 – Mets 2, Reds 5 (10 innings)
Game 5 – Mets 5, Reds 3 (Syndergaard CG)

Winner: Mets win series, 4-1

Jacob deGrom pitched twice, once as a starter and once in relief, but and helped the Mets clamp down on a lackadaisical Reds offense. Joey Votto regressed back to where he was during the season, which was average at best, and the Reds floundered as a result.
Jacob deGrom pitched twice, once as a starter and once in relief, but and helped the Mets clamp down on a lackadaisical Reds offense. Joey Votto regressed back to where he was during the season, which was average at best, and the Reds floundered as a result.

Postseason baseball is as much about swagger as it is stats, something we saw with the Dodgers in their series against the Brewers. Yasiel Puig is a pain, but the energy he injects into a team is contagious and is an underrated variable in their back-to-back World Series trips. David Wright isn’t nearly as flamboyant as Puig, but having their captain back has to be interrupted as a major reason why the Mets suddenly turned on in this series. With the exception of one extra innings game (one dominated by ex-Met Matt Harvey), the series wasn’t once close and the Mets pitching that was supposed to be dominant in the regular season finally gave fans the lights out performances we expected to see. Noah Syndergaard pitched a complete game to close out the series while Zach Wheeler went eight innings in Game 1 (a result of deGrom and Syndergaard having to pitch at the backend of the NLDS) which rested the bullpen and allowed the Mets to gain control of the series on the mound early. Steven Matz was able to go in Game 3 which allowed for the option to pitch Syndergaard in either Game 4 (Jason Vargas went and expectedly lost) or in Game 5 to close out the series.

New York should have played this way all season, and while it clinched a berth in the End of the World Series, it’s a painful reminder of what could have been.

Series MVP: Zach Wheeler. Going almost a full game to start the series helped both rest the bullpen and ease tensions that the wheels might come off. He was lights out and a reminder that the postseason brings out the best in good players.

Home/MLB Postseason