NL Wild Card Standings: Mets and Braves are becoming a threat to the struggling Diamondbacks

There isn’t a hotter team in baseball right now than the New York Mets. They’ve won 8 in a row. They’re tied with the Atlanta Braves for the third spot in the NL Wild Card standings. Things couldn’t be trending much better except for the fact that the Arizona Diamondbacks have cooled off.

Going against the Houston Astros this weekend has given the Diamondbacks a challenge they weren’t ready for. The return of Ketel Marte did little to help them on Friday as they were held to two hits and zero runs.

The loss for Arizona pushes the Mets and Braves to just 1.5 behind the second-place NL Wild Card team. Unless the Diamondbacks get their act together, one of these two teams has a chance to catch them in the coming days if not by the time we get to Monday Night Football.

NL Wild Card team schedules for the upcoming week

The Mets get to play the Cincinnati Reds twice more and the Atlanta Braves face the Toronto Blue Jays. This weekend, three of the four teams battling for a Wild Card spot are at home. Only the Diamondbacks, dealing with the toughest opponent, are sleeping in a hotel bed. The timing couldn’t be worse.

Let’s look beyond this weekend for a moment. The Mets and Braves actually swap opponents. The Reds head to Atlanta after they wrap up their three at Citi Field. The Mets venture up to Toronto to play the Blue Jays beginning on Monday. It’s a day where both teams can make up ground. The Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres are both off.

When Tuesday arrives, the Braves leave home to play the Washington Nationals. Their makeup game against the Reds now complete, they get to face the peskier of the two weak NL East teams. The Diamondbacks get to return home to take on a Texas Rangers club everyone figured would be much tougher. The Padres hit the road and go up to face the Seattle Mariners. We can only wish they would treat the Padres the same way they treated the Mets a few weeks ago.

The season is a very day-to-day situation with all four of these teams capable of swapping spots. Next weekend, the Mets play the Philadelphia Phillies and the Braves do battle against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fortunately, the Diamondbacks have to deal with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Padres visit the San Francisco Giants who aren’t pushovers.

The Mets can only worry about what is in their control. One of the tougher remaining schedules because of 7 versus the Phillies, 3 against the Brewers, and the possibly NL Wild Card deciding 3 against the Braves will make or break their playoff chances.