Scherzer on impending clinch: 'You celebrate making the playoffs'

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

When the Mets clinch a National League playoff berth, likely this week in Milwaukee or Oakland, the team intends to celebrate.

There is a school of thought, particularly among veteran clubs and perennial contenders, that celebrating a playoff berth is less worthwhile for those with greater aspirations. When the Dodgers clinched a spot earlier this month, they toasted each other with champagne and distributed some playoff swag, but they did not pop bottles in the customary fashion. The Dodgers saved a more raucous celebration for their NL West clinch a few days later.

The Mets do not necessarily align with that type of thinking. When asked about the clubhouse plans this week, veteran pitcher Max Scherzer was adamant: “You celebrate making the playoffs.”

“There’s a scenario where we fight for this division, come up just short, and then go to the Wild Card round not appreciative of where we’re at, and then lose that round and then you haven’t even celebrated your season,” Scherzer said. “I think that would be a mistake not to celebrate your season.”

Unlike the Dodgers, who won the World Series in 2020 and have made the playoffs for 10 years running, the Mets haven’t qualified for postseason play since 2016. Unlike the Dodgers, who were able to wrap up their division within days of clinching at least a Wild Card berth, the Mets are likely to clinch the playoffs two weeks or more before putting a bow on the division. And there’s a very realistic scenario in which they don’t win the division at all.

“I mean, it’s a big deal, right?” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said of making the playoffs. “I think it’s definitely something to celebrate. But then there’s also this side of the team being veteran guys and understanding that the job’s not done.”

Nimmo noted that in most team affairs, the club’s starting pitchers -- a group of veterans who have “a lot more time” on their hands than position players -- like to discuss things amongst themselves before presenting their consensus to other veteran leaders. Shortstop Francisco Lindor indicated that he has already broached the topic with teammates. Team flights such as the one from New York to Milwaukee on Sunday night tend to present good opportunities for dialogue.

“There’s nothing wrong with addressing the elephant in the room,” said Lindor, who made the playoffs four times in Cleveland. “Am I superstitious? No. So it’s not like, ‘Oh my God, I’m jinxing something.’ I have faith. So there’s nothing wrong with confronting it, talking about it, the leaders of the team talking about it.”

One wrinkle is that the Mets have never celebrated with champagne at Citi Field. In 2015, they clinched the playoffs in Cincinnati, the NL Division Series in Los Angeles and the NL Championship Series in Chicago. The following year, the Mets celebrated their Wild Card berth in Philadelphia.

Although this year’s playoff clincher will almost certainly occur on the road as well, it’s possible the Mets could win the division during their final three games of the season in Queens.

If they do, a second, even more boisterous celebration will follow.

“You’re in,” Scherzer said. “You have a chance to win the World Series. There’s only 12 teams that get to say that.”