If you know anything about Major League Baseball then you know that the New York Mets as an organization has not fared well when it comes to heating up towards the end of the season. Since their induction in 1962 the Mets have only been to the playoffs eight times and won the World Series twice. Not really the greatest of odds. However, there are some things the Mets can and will have to do if they want to make it into the postseason.

1 Pitching DEEP into games

The Mets have a great rotation on paper, but are not utilizing what they have. Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Bartolo Colon and Logan Verrett all have the responsibility now more than ever to pitch deeper into games and not give up a massive amount of runs. A solid 5 innings is not going to cut it anymore. With only 4 out of our 5 starters in the top 40 in the National League in ERA it’s not looking so hot on the fifth day of the rotation.

2 Hitting With Runners in Scoring Position

This has been the achilles heel for the Mets this year. Trying to actually get runners home. Getting people on base and then not scoring is like walking into Cold Stone and not getting ice cream. Hit damnit hit!! The Mets have A LOT of power and good hitters so don’t psych yourselves out just relax!

3 Stop Relying On The Home Run

Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker and Jay Bruce (Bruce is the newest addition to the Mets) have a lot of home run power. Cespedes, Walker and Bruce aren’t going to bail you out every time. Players like Wilmer Flores, James Loney, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto need to do the small things like singles, doubles and possibly sacrifice bunts to help move things along.

4 Start Taking Some Risks

Terry Collins, manager of the Mets has been known to not take a lot of risks. However, at this point in the season you don’t have a lot of time to just sit back and hope the other teams lose too. The Mets are last in the Majors when it comes to stolen bases and hit and run plays. These are the small things that put together a winning operation. The Kansas City Royals ran circles around everyone last year and that’s how they won it all. Start doing Hit-And-Runs, stealing bases and odd plays to keep the opponent on their toes.

5 WHATEVER YOU DO DON’T BLOW IT!!!

If any team knows how to blow it, it’s the Mets. I love them dearly, but they need to stay focused and stop blowing leads, chances to win and playoff opportunities.In 2007 and 2008 the Mets were eliminated by the same team, the Marlins, on the LAST day of each of those two seasons. Last year, the Mets were beaten (once again) in the World Series. This year has not been as good as last year, but October is a whole different story!