PHILADELPHIA — Word around the Mets is Yoenis Cespedes has been miserable in recent days because of at-bats not up to his standards over the final few days of the regular season.
That is one reason he was ejected following his ninth-inning at-bat Saturday and then limited his participation in the raucous clinching celebration. He also needed treatment on his still-aching right quad.
Cespedes confirmed one other reason for mostly abstaining in a brief chat with reporters. “Si,” he said, when asked if simply winning a wild card was not enough to enthuse him.
“Wednesday will be a big day when we keep moving forward,” Cespedes said through a translator.
But nothing was lost in translation: The Mets went to the World Series last year. Cespedes expects them to take an actual playoff step Wednesday against the Giants and, if they do, he will celebrate.
It accentuates the interesting place the Mets are in. Have they already — regardless of what happens against Madison Bumgarner — had a season worth toasting in 2016? Or does a team that went to the World Series last year have to do more than just clinch a wild card to feel this season a success?
“In some ways, I can’t believe they even got into the playoffs,” Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa said. “I think Terry Collins should be Manager of the Year. You are not talking about Joe Schmo starting pitching going down. You are talking about elite starting pitching and it all went down.”
That would be the opening statement for those who feel the Mets could take a well-deserved victory lap now. They were supposed to thrive behind elite starting pitching and like dominoes Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom went down and Zack Wheeler never came back.
Offensively, the Mets endured without Lucas Duda, Neil Walker and David Wright for extended stretches, did not have Wilmer Flores in the end, and watched Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera limp through the second half. Michael Conforto and Travis d’Arnaud have been present, yet absent.
The Mets were 60-62 on Aug. 19, one step in a baseball grave. They had the majors’ best record since then to clinch a wild-card berth in Game 161. The rise of Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo and the revival of Jose Reyes helped get the Mets the wild card now and bodes well moving forward. So do the hoped-for return to health in 2017 of Harvey, Matz and deGrom.
Does that plus making the playoffs for a second straight year for just the second time in franchise history elevate this season to success regardless of what comes next?
Collins said he does not anticipate his players letting down, feeling one champagne extravaganza was enough. He noted that after clinching the NL East early last season, the Mets actually got swept by the woeful Phillies and no-hit by Max Scherzer on the next-to-last-day of the season and he wondered if the 2015 club had shut off. Collins said when the time came for that group to flip the switch back on, it did, and the same will occur Wednesday when Noah Syndergaard — last elite young starter standing — starts the wild-card game.
“To me they are a dangerous team,” Bowa said. “Because if they get by the first game, they are playing with house money.”
In that, Bowa has it perfect. You can argue if the season is a success or not now. But I believe if the Mets win the wild-card game, then any outcome against the Cubs does not dim the year.
Obviously, there will be fan/team sadness if the Mets are eliminated by the Cubs and no team should accept anything short of a championship because opportunities to win them can be so fleeting — remember, six weeks ago, there was strong doubt the Mets would even get into the tournament.
Yet, simply getting to see if they could upend the Cubs would be a great accomplishment. Remember, we knew Chicago was going to the playoffs around May 1. This is everything for that franchise — it is really title or bust.
The Mets have been in a fight the whole way. They persevered and the reward for clinching Saturday was for Collins to give at-bats to specific veterans who wanted them Sunday in tandem with the best of the Las Vegas 51s. It was to have Syndergaard throw a long bullpen session rather than a do-or-die Game 162.
“We will have fresh pitching and fresh players [for the wild card],” Collins said as a result of sealing a wild card in Game 161.
The day of Game 162 brought career conclusions for Vin Scully, Dick Enberg, Mark Teixeira and Turner Field as a baseball stadium. It did not end the 2016 Mets. They celebrated that heartily Saturday. It wasn’t enough for Cespedes. Is it enough for Met fans?