They freakin’ blew it, bro.
The Mets‘ season is over. Despite winning 101 games and earning their first postseason berth since 2016, Buck Showalter’s ballclub stunk in September, lost out on winning the National League East, and lost a Wild Card series to the Padres in the playoffs. San Diego won Sunday night’s rubber match of the three-game series.
An undeniable travesty for a team that was in first place for much of the season. And WFAN Sports Radio host Joe Benigno didn’t hold back in his assessment.
“They choked. Make no mistake. This freaking team — they were in first place for 175 out of 180 days and they choked,” Benigno said Monday during his weekly spot on WFAN’s “Tiki and Tierney” midday program. “They choked against the Nationals, they choked against the Cubs, they choked a game against Oakland, they choked a game against Pittsburgh, they choked a game against the Marlins, they absolutely choked against Atlanta, and they choked against San Diego. Bottom line, case closed. They flushed 101 freakin’ wins down the toilet. And I don’t want to see no stupid banner up [at Citi Field] next year saying “2022 National League Wild Card.” Because this was an embarrassment.”
“This was a disgrace of a year. I blame everybody. Max Scherzer spit the bit, he’s a broken-down old pitcher now. Chris Bassitt, who I loved, showed me New York was too big for him.”
Winning 101 games is fantastic. Making the playoffs is, too.
But this wasn’t a fantastic 2022 Mets season. Not after that ending.
This team had an incredible opportunity to run away with the division even with Atlanta playing great second-half baseball. The Mets had series against the Nationals, Pirates, Marlins, Cubs, and A’s all in September. A gift from the schedule gods that was supposed to help them cruise into October with their first NL East title since 2015.
And in response, they went just 15-11 during that last full month. The Mets lost twice to both the Nationals and Marlins and were swept by the Cubs. Then to close out the month and commence October, the Amazins further buried themselves with three straight losses to Atlanta.
The team choked. Let’s tell it like it is. With the crosstown Yankees starting their American League Division Series against the Guardians Tuesday, praising the Mets right now is little-brother mentality. Scherzer and Bassitt were awful in the preseason, Jacob deGrom allowed at least three earned runs in each of his last four regular-season starts, and the lineup recorded only one hit in Sunday’s season-ending loss.
The Mets were supposed to be World Series contenders. The fact they couldn’t even get out of the Wild Card round is demoralizing.
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