Mets feeling good -- and pressure-free? -- heading into NLDS

PHILADELPHIA -- At this point, the evidence is impossible to ignore.

• Down to their final three outs in the sixth game of their season, the Mets had a 15.2 percent chance to beat the Tigers and avoid an 0-6 start.

• On May 29, the night they called a team meeting, they had 8.2 percent odds to make the playoffs.

• As late as Aug. 28, the Mets’ chances of qualifying for the postseason were at 13.1 percent.

• After the top of the eighth inning of a season-defining win in Toronto last month, the Mets’ odds to win had fallen to 13.0 percent.

• At one point in their doubleheader Game 1 win over the Braves on Monday, the Mets held a 5.9 percent probability of winning.

• In Game 3 of the winner-take-all National League Wild Card Series against the Brewers, the Mets’ chances bottomed out at 5.6 percent.

Regardless of how you might feel about win expectancy and playoff odds, which can sometimes be clunky measures of intangible things, anyone watching those games understands how slim the Mets’ chances really felt.

"We talk about resiliency,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said Thursday night, as Mets players on the other side of the clubhouse did their best to drown him out with their screams. “We talk about never quitting, playing until the last out and all that stuff. It’s cliché unless you do it. And this group has consistently done it."

For those reasons, the Mets do not care that they are underdogs against the Phillies, who held first place in the NL East from the first week of May through the end of the season. The Mets were underdogs against the Brewers, too. They were underdogs simply to make the playoffs, and they stopped worrying about that a long time ago.

“[People] had us getting swept in Atlanta and not even making it [to the playoffs],” designated hitter J.D. Martinez said. “No one had us beating the Brewers. So it’s like, what’s the pressure? They’ve got the pressure. Not us. Let’s just go out there and enjoy it.”

The NLDS begins with Game 1 today at Citizens Bank Park. Check out this FAQ with all the details, plus a detailed position-by-position breakdown from Paul Casella that I’m sure none of you will disagree with. For the history buffs, Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru has a rundown of the most notable games in Mets-Phillies history, and Manny Randhawa has a look at the best players to suit up for both the Phillies and Mets.

I’ll leave Phillies manager Rob Thomson with the final words heading into this NLDS showdown.

"As I said when we were in London [in June], do not fall asleep on the New York Mets. … They’re very talented. They can beat you in a lot of different ways. They’re a good club, well managed. They can steal bases when they need to. Defense is solid, starting pitching is really good. So yeah, they’re on a roll.”