NL Wild Card 2022: Padres vs. Mets Hot Takes from MLB Twitter

The New York Mets are under the most pressure of the eight Wild Card Series participants.

The Mets blew a 10.5-game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and now have to play the San Diego Padres at home just to get into the NLDS, where they would then face the Los Angeles Dodgers.

New York's recent losses in Atlanta put the franchise in a precarious situation and potentially on the brink of 2022 being labeled a huge disappointment.

The Mets tried to replicate Atlanta's trade deadline strategy from 2021, as they brought in some role players to bolster their lineup. Tyler Naquin, Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf have been disappointing. Meanwhile San Diego's top trade acquisition, Juan Soto, is heating up at the right time.

WFAN's Gregg Giannotti delivered an honest take on where the Mets stand going into the three-game set that begins on Friday at Citi Field.

“Pressure’s on, because they have the highest payroll in baseball,” Gio said. “I know the Padres spent a lot of money and are gonna spend even more money on Juan Soto. What did the Padres do at the trade deadline? Went all in. What did the Mets do? Got a bunch of tomato cans and tried to piece the whole thing together with duct tape and string."

The Mets may be using a different strategy than other teams would. Saving Jacob deGrom's arm is under consideration, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

"If this plan is used, Scherzer would start Friday night’s opener and—if the Mets win and, thus, do not face elimination Saturday—Chris Bassitt would start Game 2.

"If the Mets lose the opener, the strategy would be to start deGrom in Game 2 to try to avoid elimination. If the Mets win the opener, but then lose Game 2, deGrom would start Game 3 to attempt to save their season," Sherman wrote.

The Mets can utilize this plan because they have Max Scherzer and Bassitt ready to pitch Games 1 and 2 in the best-case scenario. SNY's Danny Abriano outlined how resting deGrom could help the Mets in their potential NLDS matchup with the Dodgers.

The New York Post's Zach Braziller pronounced that a sweep is needed for the Mets to best contend with the Dodgers due to their potential rotation issues.

New York's problem could be hitting off Yu Darvish, who was dominant in two meetings against the NL East side this season, as Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune noted:

Darvish could be followed by Joe Musgrove or Blake Snell. Padres Radio Network host Sammy Levitt outlined how terrific Musgrove was on the mound this season and how bright San Diego's future is with him in the rotation .

The Mets also have to deal with Soto, who had plenty of success against them while he was with the Washington Nationals. Ben Fletcher of 760 AM in San Diego pointed out those totals.

Soto actually has worse numbers after the trade deadline compared to Daniel Vogelbach, as Ian O'Connor of the New York Post showed us:

Soto was acquired specifically to bolster San Diego's postseason stock, and he could help the Padres get past the Mets in a series that will likely be decided by one or two swings given how strong the pitchers are on both sides.