NL Wild Card Standings: Can the Mets actually catch the Padres?

The New York Mets didn’t play on Monday nor did most teams. One club relevant in the NL Wild Card standings who did get a game in were the Arizona Diamondbacks. With a chance to push themselves a half-game ahead of the Mets before they take on the Atlanta Braves, the D’Backs instead decided to gift us with another loss.

Heading into Tuesday, the Mets remain 2 games up on the Braves, a half-game ahead of the Diamondbacks, and trail the San Diego Padres by 3. Only 3, you say?

The Padres schedule spikes upward after a weekend against the Chicago White Sox. They play the Los Angeles Dodgers and then the Diamondbacks. Both teams are playing for something—the latter their postseason life. How inconceivable would it be for the Mets to actually catch the Padres?

The road for the Mets to catch the Padres in the NL Wild Card standings isn't too ridiculous

Running the table and winning all 6 of their final games could be enough to earn home field advantage in the first round. We’d need the Padres to run into some turbulence as well. They’ve remained rather stable throughout but with three losses against the Dodgers this week, the Mets can push themselves into a tie which they’d take because they won the season series.

The Dodgers are only a half-game better than the Philadelphia Phillies for home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Until that has locked up, expect them to give the Padres everything they have. The Diamondbacks could bump off the Braves by winning their next two if the Mets are able to take the first pair in the three-game series. We don’t want to root too hard for the Diamondbacks, though. Because they are the Padres’ opponent to finish the year, a couple of late victories on the season for them could help them also catch San Diego.

Scenarios are endless for how this all plays out. Even the Braves could somehow earn the top NL Wild Card spot. It’s an incredible longshot, though. It would essentially require them to win every game and see the others ahead of them lose as much as possible.

The first order of business is for the Mets to clinch a playoff berth then worry about when, where, and who after. Catching the Padres would be nice, but the storyline of paying them back as the visitors wouldn’t be one we’d throw out of bed.