3 ways this Mets season hasn’t gone as scripted

3) NY Mets hunt for the playoffs has been family-friendly

The National League East lead is hardly safe. The way the Atlanta Braves were able to charge forward and nearly catch the Mets was cause for some concern. The NL East race is a decent one and should remain such until the final game of the season. We’ve seen the Mets and other teams collapse late. There is no telling if it could happen again.

What hasn’t been so difficult is getting to the postseason at all. The expanded playoffs help here. The Mets are in no danger of missing the postseason at all. A lengthy slump—something they haven’t gone through at all this year—wouldn’t even be enough to eliminate them from contention.

Helping to boost the confidence of Mets fans is the fact that there may only be a single team over .500 in the National League to fall out of the playoff race. Right now, it looks like the Philadelphia Phillies or the loser of the National League Central race between the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals will be the outsider.

Everyone figured the Mets would be good this year. With the added postseason club, we’re experiencing for the first time much more ease at getting there. The challenge will be ensuring they capture the best seed they can. The number one spot, held by the Los Angeles Dodgers, might be hard to challenge.

In a movie script, hit ease is a nice relief. We were expecting something a little more terrifying. Instead, the horrors are far lighter and there’s some fun moments thrown in, too.