Mets September Preview: Many ways the Mets can spoil the pennant race

The New York Mets then return home to play the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Cincinnati Reds from September 11-17, with both of those teams looking for a Wild Card berth.

The Diamondbacks and Reds have been two of the surprise teams this season, and this is the first chance the Mets can play spoiler. Both teams, however, have been inconsistent over the past two months, and are vulnerable in different ways.

With the Diamondbacks, the Mets saw first-hand, as the Mets swept them in Arizona in July, which featured a dramatic comeback win with the team down to their last strike. The pitching has been problematic aside from their two aces, Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, and both are currently lined up to pitch in that four-game series.

Where Arizona succeeds is their offense, and they have four hitters with 20 or more home runs entering September, in Christian Walker, Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Lourdes Gurriel. This series will also feature the return of Tommy Pham, who overperformed in his four months in Flushing and netted the Mets a prospect at the trade deadline.

The Reds visit Citi Field from September 17, and their renaissance this year has been something, as it is one of the feel-good stories in baseball. The amount of young talent that they’ve been able to call up this season is something we haven’t seen from one team in a season in years, but no prospect has shined brighter at the plate, on the basepaths, and in the field than shortstop Elly De La Cruz. This infusion of young talent has led to people believing the future is very bright in the Queen City.

But they have been decimated with injuries on their pitching front for a couple of months now, and they failed to equip their pitching staff with enough arms at the trade deadline. They are currently on the outside looking in when it comes to the playoffs, and the Mets could take advantage of their lack of arms.