3 bold New York Mets playoff predictions for 2022
The New York Mets begin their 2022 postseason push on Friday, October 7, against the San Diego Padres. It’s the first time these two teams have met in the playoffs. It should be a lot of fun.
Before things get started, it’s important to put our thoughts into ink—digital or otherwise. Now is the time to boldly predict what will happen for this team’s postseason journey that lies ahead.
Will the Mets win it all? Will they be done after two games? Let’s go bold, specific, and hope for the best.
1) Bold NY Mets prediction: A sweep of the Padres
That’s right. You will have your Sunday free. The Mets are sweeping the San Diego Padres in two games.
Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will look more like themselves in their starts. While neither will toss a complete game shutout, they will remove any of those doubts we had about them after the weekend sweep against the Atlanta Braves.
San Diego does boast some tough pitchers. But at Citi Field, with so much more on the line, the Mets will break out with some early leads in at least one of the two games they play.
Getting ahead of the Padres is essential because it helps cut the game apart. The Mets will have a goal of keeping their starters in as long as possible. With Adam Ottavino in the eighth and Edwin Diaz in the ninth, they should be able to win.
Is that new Game of Thrones spinoff still airing episodes? If it is, you’ll be able to watch it live on Sunday night. The Mets will already be headed to Hollywood to face the Los Angeles Dodgers. What’ll happen then?
2) Bold NY Mets prediction: A comeback against the Dodgers
The Dodgers are a tough team to beat but the Mets did manage to take 4 out of 7 against them in the regular season. In their NLDS matchup, I’m predicting a repeat of the 2015 results.
The Mets will be down 2-1 in this series and win the fourth game only to clinch a nail-biter in Game 5. It’s in this finale when they’ll be able to hopefully turn to deGrom or Scherzer for the start. It won’t be the prettiest of games. When are Game 5s or 7s ever worth taking home to your mother?
The series will include at least one blowout loss for the Mets. Maybe it’s a game not started by one of the two aces. Maybe they exit and the bullpen gets creamed. It’s hard to get through any series of significance versus the Dodgers and walk away unscathed. They will, at some point, get the best of the Mets pitchers.
This series will come down to a series of late-inning moves and matchups. Joely Rodriguez gets a huge strikeout after a few minutes of Buck Showalter criticism on Twitter. A sacrifice bunt by Tomas Nido is regarded as the changing point of the game. It’s those small moments that will add up.
Winning this series will push the Mets forward one more notch closer to the World Series. Can they overcome their next opponent?
3) Bold NY Mets prediction: An NLCS loss to the Cardinals
How about this for bold: it’s not the Braves the Mets face in the NLCS. It’s the St. Louis Cardinals instead. After taking care of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cardinals do the same thing the Mets do to the favorite in the series. Dodgers and Braves fans spend the whole offseason complaining about how the bye messed with the team’s rhythm.
Unfortunately, the good times do end here. A big reason why we wanted the Mets to win the division instead of the wild card spot was because there are more mountains to climb. In this case, a familiar foe returns. With home-field advantage in favor of St. Louis, the Cardinals have a small edge over the Mets in this series.
The Cardinals are a sneaky-good ball club with the benefit of having some superstar bats in their lineup. Big hits from Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt help doom the Mets in this series. Another random player, Paul DeJong would be a good bet, smashes a home run against one of the Mets relievers to give them a late lead.
As much as we’d all love to predict a favorable ending for the Mets, having that extra series makes it a huge challenge to overcome. Keep your fingers crossed this is the wrongest of wrong predictions.