Who are these Mets that are invading Red October? Here are some things to know.
The Phillies have never played the Mets in the playoffs. That’s about to change in a big way.
The Phillies and Mets have played more than a thousand games against one another since New York entered the league in 1962, with the Phillies holding a slim 555-525-1 lead. Even more interesting, according to the database at Baseball-Reference.com, in those 1,081 games, they are separated by 10 measly runs (Phillies 4,595, Mets 4,585).
TEN!
As if October at Citizens Bank Park wasn’t electric enough, here come the Mets, who are in the middle of a fascinating season of their own. Should be fun.
10. Wild in the Series
“Wild-card teams do win the World Series, and that’s where [our] hunger stems from — knowing we are one of the better teams in baseball for the last four months” Mets leftfielder Brandon Nimmo told the New York Times during the stretch run in September. “If we get in, we are dangerous.”
» READ MORE: The Phillies’ ‘longer-term bet’ on Cristopher Sanchez looked like a misstep. Then he found his pitch.
9. Manaea’s revenge?
Mets starter Sean Manaea has names for the gloves he uses when he pitches. In the past, he’s trotted out there wearing SheHulk, Crestineth, Midnight and Abraham Lincoln. He also has one of the best nicknames: “The Throwin’ Samoan,” which is a nod to his father, Faaloloi. Manaea was lit up by the Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 NLCS when he was with the Padres, and has given up 15 earned runs and seven home runs in 12.2 innings in four career postseason outings.
8. Closer chronicles
Bryce Harper is 2-for-15 in his career off Edwin Diaz with two home runs and a whopping 11 strikeouts. Trea Turner is 1-for-10 with five Ks, and Kyle Schwarber is 0-for-8 with six Ks. J.T. Realmuto is 6-for-15 against Diaz, who served a 10-game suspension during the season for having a foreign substance on his hand.
» READ MORE: Our NLDS predictions between the Phillies and Mets
7. Here comes Díaz
Mets closer Díaz had a 5.04 ERA in six appearances against the Phillies this season. Dig deeper, though. He gave up runs in his first three games, but was solid in his last three — giving up no runs, one hit and two walks in 4.1 IP. Eight of the 13 outs were strikeouts.
6. MVP? Close.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor has been stellar since Mendoza moved him to the leadoff spot in mid-May. His 33 home runs were his most since 2018, and he’s probably going to finish second to Shohei Ohtani in the NL MVP voting. The Mets were 29-4 when he homered. Numerologists may enjoy that he also stole 29 bases and was caught four times.
» READ MORE: David Murphy: OK, maybe the Phillies should be a tiny bit scared of the Mets
5. Management skills
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and Phillies manager Rob Thomson were coaches in the Yankees organization during the 2010 decade. Mendoza wears the No. 28 partly because the anniversary when he met his wife Francis is Sept. 28. Awwww.
4. Didn’t expect you
This will be the Phillies first postseason meeting against the Mets, leaving just the Nationals, Cubs and Pirates among the National League clubs the Phils haven’t faced in the playoffs.
» READ MORE: The Showman’ owns the Bank stage. What does Bryce Harper have in store for another playoff run?
3. Pete packs a punch
They’ve also rallied around star slugger Pete Alonso, who is headed toward free agency after the season. Alonso is third in Mets history in home runs behind Darryl Strawberry and David Wright, and he clubbed the biggest homer of his life to beat the Brewers in the wild-card round Thursday night. Alonso has respectable numbers against Zack Wheeler (10-for-34, no homers, .294 average) and Aaron Nola (16-for-50, five homers, .320 average).
» READ MORE: The Phillies and Mets will meet in the postseason for the first time. Who has the edge in their NLDS matchup?
2. He’s a hit
This time last year, the 34-year-old Iglesias was out of baseball. He was signed by the Mets to a minor-league deal in December, and ended the regular season with a 22-game hitting streak.
» READ MORE: McDonald’s Grimace and ‘OMG’ anthem helped spark Mets’ improbable run to a NLDS matchup with Phillies
1. Listen to the Music
The Mets were 22-33 after getting embarrassed at home by the Dodgers just after Memorial Day. A few days later, they called up versatile infielder Jose Iglesias, a Taylor Swift in cleats who hit .337 in 85 games. Iglesias, who first appeared in the Majors in 2011, has galvanized the club with his uplifting hit Latin pop song “OMG.” Yep. He’s a legitimate singer.