Five Keys for the Mets Against the Brewers

With Hurricane Helene making its way through Atlanta, the New York Mets now shift their focus to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a three-game weekend series. It is crunch time for New York, who still control their own destiny, but have an opportunity to gain ground before returning to Atlanta on Monday for a doubleheader. This is a completely different Mets team than the last time they faced Milwaukee at the start of the regular season, but the Brewers have remained consistent throughout the year in locking up the National League Central division.

There is not much that jumps out on the stat sheet when it comes to the Brewers this season, but they have the fifth-best ERA in all of Major League Baseball and are consistent in their approach at the plate. They will be without longtime Met killer Christian Yelich who had season-ending back surgery back in August, but Willy Adames and William Contreras have held down the middle of the line-up over the last month with 15 home runs combined.

The Mets have continuously overcome adversity over the course of the season, and this weekend proves to be a big test of this team’s grit.  Following a crushing defeat in Atlanta on Tuesday and two postponements, they find themselves in another must-win game on Friday to keep control of their playoff positioning. These will be the five keys for the Mets to beat the Brewers:

Early Run Support

Milwaukee’s bullpen has been elite this year with the second-best ERA in the league at 3.17, which puts the Mets in a position where they need to be aggressive at the plate early in games this weekend. The Brewers’ starting pitching owns a 4.10 ERA and has struggled in the third go-around of the order, giving up an .856 OPS in the third plate appearance in games.

Aggressive Base Running

William Contreras has been excellent for the Brewers offensively but is a below-average defender behind the dish. He has only thrown out 21 of 93 runners this year, which has killed the Brewers all season. The Mets are going to have to find ways to get on base, but they have a great opportunity with Contreras’ inability to throw runners out consistently.

Starting Pitching Longevity

The Mets starting pitching has been a complete surprise in production this year, but they are going to have to show up in the last five games of the regular season. They must provide depth in their starts this weekend not just to keep the bullpen consistently fresh, but to be able to get the ball into Edwin Díaz‘s hands with a lead. Diaz looks to be back to his old form allowing one earned run over his last six outings while striking out 11, and will continue to be a big part of the final stretch.

Limit Defensive Miscues

Even with Francisco Lindor looking like the Gold Glover he is, the Mets are at the top of the league in errors committed. Tuesday night against Atlanta showed a dark side of the defensive miscues and lack of communication, which simply cannot happen this weekend. While they have been able to capitalize off of other teams’ mistakes it is going to be difficult for the Mets, given their high walk rate, to overcome these crucial errors.

Confidence

The core of this team is going to have to lead from the front and provide that spark of confidence they need down the stretch. Before Wednesday night’s postponement in Atlanta, Lindor was in the starting lineup which is a plus moving forward, but players like Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso are going to have to continue the leadership they showed in Lindor’s absence. Nimmo mentioned that in September of 2022, everyone was tense and the results showed, but credit to Carlos Mendoza, who has let this team be animated when performing well. It has a contagious effect not just with the veterans, but the younger players too.

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