ATLANTA – Carlos Mendoza remembers going back to a busy, 10-game-in-10-day trip in August that included a one-day trip to St. Louis and trying to shrug away the strange weekend-plus waiting for the Mets.
“We’ve been through it all these years, and it’s nothing new for us,” the Mets manager said, sending a message without an excuse that wasn’t true.
This is new.
“It’s going to be different, that’s for sure,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
The Mets-Braves game Wednesday and Thursday were washed out, Wednesday due to steady rain and Friday because Hurricane Helene is set to wreak havoc across Georgia.
The conclusion of the most important series of the season will be delayed – perhaps – until Monday, one day after the rest of the MLB season ends and one day before the postseason begins.
Now, the traditional double header is scheduled to start at 1:10 on Monday at Truist Park.
Maybe after 18 innings of games, one team will fly to Los Angeles, San Diego or Milwaukee to start a three-game playoff series the next day.
It is also possible that one or two games are not played at all: If the Diamondbacks, who enter play on Wednesday holding the third and final wildcard spot – half a game ahead of the Braves, half a game behind the Mets – who eliminate this weekend, it will be at the Commissioner’s discretion whether going to continue with the game there for seeding purposes.
The Mets are set to leave Atlanta early Friday morning, before the storm hits, and head to Milwaukee for three games.
The hope is that Sean Manaea will start Friday, which will set up the club’s ace for Game 2 of the wild-card series, but he won’t start the must-win game against Atlanta.
If the Mets were to go after David Peterson — who is set to start Wednesday’s game — Peterson would be in Game 3.
In the play for Sunday and potentially two games there will be Jose Quintana, Luis Severino and Tylor Megill.
“We’ll see how the weekend develops,” said Mendoza, who for the first time in more than a week wrote in Francisco Lindor as shortstop before the game was postponed. “It might be useful. A couple of guys need an extra day or two. Your bullpen will be fresher.
“But you got three games in Milwaukee and maybe two in one day. I can see the good and the bad.”
How about flying from Milwaukee to Atlanta, having a marathon day of baseball and then rushing to the West Coast for a playoff series that starts the next day?
“If we play a playoff game,” Mendoza said, “that’s a good thing.”
More wrinkles at the end of the season can come.
While the Mets are set to escape the Southeast, the Braves are planning to open a series at home against the Royals on Friday with the city expected to receive what one meteorologist estimated to be 6-10 inches of rain in the next few days.
Winds of 70-80 mph are expected to overtake heavy rain.
Jeff Hill, with FOX 5 Atlanta, said it would be “pretty hard” to imagine the Mets and Braves playing two games there after the city with many tall pine trees and many overhead power lines will be ravaged.
However, the Braves will likely have to sit out three games this weekend.
“I hope the Royals can come here,” said Snitker, who plans to huddle with his staff to figure out his own pitching plan.
Snitker did not confirm whether Chris Sale – the club’s ace who was supposed to start on Wednesday – will get the ball on Friday.
The club can see the positives in giving the left, which the speed decreased in the last outing, extra rest a few days and the position of the person for the playoff series.
Of course, Friday’s start will eliminate him from playing for Monday’s doubleheader.
“We’re talking about all those scenarios,” Snitker said. “We don’t want to advance because we have to win that game (against the Royals) to get in.”
Another potential Braves silver lining is the ability to bring back Spencer Schwellenbach, who silenced the Mets on Tuesday, for Monday’s doubleheader and second in the three-game series.
Snitker also sees a potential Mets silver lining: His team feels good and needs to cool down now.
“I’m really happy when we leave here (Tuesday),” Snitker said. “I said it’s finally … being the right guy, getting a little bit of momentum, the flow is great. I’m like, ‘Man, I want to keep playing with this team this weekend.’ “
However, the odd season will rest, and then it will grow again.
