The Mets suffered a deflating sweep at the hands of the Braves this weekend. After leading the division for the better part of the year, they now trail the Braves by two games with only 3 remaining. The sweep means the Mets are now long shots to win the NL East. 

New York was in the driver’s seat heading into the series with Atlanta. All they needed was to not get swept and they’d control their destiny in the division with 3 games remaining. A disappointing series was capped off by a disappointing outing from Chris Bassitt and the Braves magic number in the NL East is now 1. The Mets will have to sweep the Nationals, and the Braves will have to be swept by the Marlins in order for the Mets to win the division.

Here are the odds to win the NL East:

The Braves are now overwhelming favorites to win the NL East. If you bet $100 on the Braves to win the division on FanDuel, your payout would only be $2.50. This contrasts greatly from yesterday’s odds when the Mets were still listed at -160 to win the division. Despite what NY Sportsbooks were saying, bettors still liked the Braves at +160. Just over 92% of bets were placed on the Braves at that time.

Is There Still a Chance?

A sweep of the Nationals is realistic for the Mets, but a Marlins sweep of the Braves is highly unlikely. The Nationals hold the worst record in baseball, so if the Mets play with desperation they could take all 3 from them. The question remains will the Mets be putting everything on the line with the division now seemingly out of reach?

The Braves used all of their top arms in the series against the Mets. They’ll be on the road for their final series of the year, but it will be against the 67-92 Marlins. The Marlins have dropped 8 straight games to the Braves, and are 20-40 in their last 60 games. If the Mets take care of business and the Braves somehow drop the first two games, Atlanta may have to go up against the NL Cy Young favorite, Sandy Alcantara (-20000). The Braves will not want it to get to this point and will be looking to have the division wrapped up before then.

What’s to Come For the Mets

In all likelihood, the Mets will finish second in the NL East. This would make them the top wildcard team in the National League. The Padres currently hold the second wildcard spot, which means if the season ended today the Padres would travel to Queens for a best of 3 in the wildcard round. If the Mets win that series they would face the Dodgers in a best of 5 in the NLDS. A Mets-Dodgers series would bring in plenty of viewership.

Relinquishing the division lead is quite disappointing for Mets fans, but it wasn’t because of a collapse from this Mets team. The Mets once held a 10.5 game lead on Atlanta, but a historic run from the Braves has seen the two teams flip in the standings.

The Mets still hold the 5th best odds to win the World Series. Caesars is giving New York +800 odds at finishing the year as world champions.

Buck Showalter’s team still has enough firepower to beat anyone in the postseason. They’re not playing their best ball right now, but a 3 game set with the Nationals is the perfect opportunity for the Mets to return to their winning ways. 

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