The New York Mets (71-85) travel south to face the Texas Rangers (78-78) in the penultimate series of the 2026 regular season. The Mets, statistically eliminated from the postseason, have nothing to play for, unless spoiling the playoff hopes of some former teammates has any appeal to the club.
The Mets took two of four from the Phillies over the weekend, which helped, but not significantly, lower the playoff odds for their division rivals. If the Diamondbacks would’ve done their part by looking like
a team trying to make the postseason, it would’ve been a little different, but Arizona has been in a bit of a tailspin as of late.
Well, at least until they took two of three from the Yankees over the weekend. Whoops.
After a week where Mets fans were forced to confront their ex-boyfriend playing for a team that still has (slim) playoff odds, they had to spend the weekend saying goodbye to a figure that has been around longer than any player, manager, or even owner in longtime voice of the club Howie Rose. Those two factors made the last week at Citi Field feel sadder and more significant than any six games at this point in a lost season should’ve felt.
And so, the Mets find themselves on the road, playing out the string with truly nothing at stake aside from their own dignity. Being the 2026 Mets, that dignity doesn’t mean all that much at this point, so instead, we can calibrate our expectations properly: some fun, gaudy stat-padding games, no injuries, and cool shit on the baseball field. If not that, maybe some losses to help with the draft order. Who says no?
Well, the Rangers may say no. They are currently holding onto a playoff spot by the skin of their teeth, but the lack of games and the incompetence of the Astros may lead to the Rangers not needing to do much this week to wind up playing in October. With old friend Jacob deGrom starting on Sunday, the Mets are missing their former ace, but will see plenty of, as one Phillies fan famously put it on Twitter, ‘runs to first McGee’ Brandon Nimmo. And, while as of this writing the Rangers have not announced their starters for games two and three, there’s a good chance the Mets face Kumar Rocker, their famously bungled first round draft pick from 2021.
Tuesday, September 22: Sean Manaea vs MacKenzie Gore, 8:05pm EDT on SNY
Manaea (2026): 198.2 IP, 132 K, 41 BB, 23 HR, 4.74 ERA, 4.54 FIP, 115 ERA-
The good news about September Sean Manaea is that his season line looks much better than we would’ve expected when he was doing mop up duty over the first month of the season. Manaea’s last start was his best in over a month, where he gave up just two earned runs over five and a third innings. If we’re looking for an additional silver lining, Manaea’s walk rate has been good.
Gore (2026): 165.2 IP, 172 K, 69 BB, 19 HR, 4.67 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 115 ERA-
Gore had a the best year of his career last season, even though he was essentially a league average pitcher by ERA+. He’s not quite having that year again this year; in fact, he and Sean Manaea are tied with the same ERA- of 115, meaning they’re pitching approximately 15% worse than league average. It’s one thing to have Manaea starting two of the Mets’ final six games when the team is statistically eliminated from postseason play. We’ve already discussed just how dire things are for the Rangers going into these final six games, so putting your homes in Gore is a tricky proposition.
Wednesday, September 23: Nolan McLean vs TBD, 8:05pm EDT on SNY
McLean (2026): 172.2 IP, 189 K, 69 BB, 17 HR, 3.18 ERA, 3.65 FIP, 77 ERA-
This is the last start for McLean in his rookie campaign, and while his hopes for Rookie of the Year have likely been dashed (perhaps by his own teammate), it would be a very good thing for McLean to finish the year strong, mostly for his own confidence. This does feel a little like déjà vu however, as the message at the end of last season was, “Well, we blew it, but what about Nolan McLean?!?” Similar message this year, except we blew it earlier and there are more players to group with McLean in that late-season sentiment.
Thursday, September 24: Zac Thornton vs TBD, 2:35 EDT on SNY
Thornton (2026): 79.1 IP, 59 K, 17 BB, 13 HR, 3.40 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 83 ERA-
Much like McLean, this is Thornton’s final start of the year, but unlike McLean, I don’t know if anyone in the Mets’ org thought that Thornton would have been the contributor he was this season. This was a truly unexpected development this season, and one that helped the Mets remain afloat for longer than they probably should have. Aside from a bad game against the Giants earlier this month, Thornton has been very consistent since his second call up. While he burned his rookie status earlier this summer, he is certainly one of the reasons to be excited for what the future may hold for Thornton.
