Before the New York Mets thrashed the Washington Nationals 10-1 on Tuesday night, Joel Sherman of the New York Post shared how Mets first baseman Pete Alonso urged teammates during a meeting called ahead of the series to keep pushing for a playoff spot with star shortstop and team MVP Francisco Lindor out until further notice with a lingering back injury.
Alonso then let his bat do the talking, as he delivered a clutch two-run bloop single and a three-run home run in Tuesday’s blowout.
“I just wanted to say something to the fellas,” Alonso said about speaking up in the team meeting called by Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and first-year manager Carlos Mendoza ahead of Monday’s series opener against Washington, per John Harper of SNY.
The Mets preserving positive “clubhouse vibes“ has become somewhat of a rallying cry throughout their up-and-down season, and they were coming off brutal back-to-back losses to the Philadelphia Phillies when Alonso spoke up on Monday. Specifically, Sherman mentioned how Alonso is desperate to want to celebrate earning a playoff berth “with the boys” and believes this won’t be his final homestand as a member of the Mets.
Alonso, who turns 30 years old in December, is on track to reach free agency after the season.
“I’m just really fired up because of the situation we’ve put ourselves in,” Alonso said about the Mets entering Wednesday two games ahead of the rival Atlanta Braves in the battle for the National League’s final wild-card spot, according to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). “We control our own destiny.”
The 83-68 Mets also began Wednesday tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the second of three wild-card spots and 2.5 games back of the San Diego Padres for the first wild card.
Of course, the trend of nothing being easy for the 2024 Mets will continue through the regular-season finale on Sept. 29. Following Wednesday’s matchup against the 68-83 Nationals, the Amazins will host the first-place Phillies (91-60) for a four-game series. New York will then play three games in Atlanta next week.
Stearns and Mendoza hope leaders such as Alonso will carry the Mets into the postseason as Lindor recovers from a setback that could keep him sidelined through at least this coming weekend.