NEW YORK -- After winning their second postseason series, the Mets are ready to silence the critics who have bashed the team's core assembled after their last successful playoff run nine years ago.
To anyone who didn't believe the team's core -- Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor -- could take the Mets to the NL Championship Series, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns has a message for you:
"I think they showed that's bullshit," Stearns said after the Mets' 4-1 win in Game 4 of the NL Division Series. "This core has been winning games since June 1, so we could put that to bed right now."
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Who would've thought the Mets would be in the position they're in after Jorge Lopez launched his glove into the stands after an on-field meltdown on May 29?
The team was 22-33 after that game, the third-worst record in the National League. Since then, after Lindor called a team meeting and the front office made a slew of moves to revamp the roster, the Mets went 67-40 in the regular season, the best record in MLB during that span.
It catapulted them into the postseason, where they continued to shock the baseball world. And it's the team's core that's been the catalyst to this run
Alonso has delivered two big home runs, a game-winner in the eighth inning of Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Brewers and then one in his first at-bat at Citi Field in Game 3 of the NLDS. Nimmo is a constant contributor, going 7-for-20 with a .387 on-base percentage and four RBIs in the postseason. And Lindor, who delivered a game-winning grand slam to eliminate the Phillies on Wednesday, continues to step up in the biggest situations.
"We just won two postseason series against two really good teams, and we got the first clinch at Citi Field," Nimmo said. "That's something that's really special because until you do something there's always a faux pas around it. That makes it even harder to do. And we just did it, we just broke that barrier. So yeah, I think it's complete bull crap too."