The New York Mets entered their final series with a simple mission: Win. They held a slim one-game lead for the last Wild Card spot, and their destiny was in their hands. The night started as they expected. A Francisco Lindor leadoff homer and Pete Alonso RBI double gave them a quick 2-0 lead. But that hope vanished in the fifth inning.

The Miami Marlins exploded for six runs and put their season on life support. But NYM didn’t just lose the game; they lost one of their most important players. Brett Baty, the 25-year-old young Mets infielder who’d carried them since August, took a big swing at a pitch in the first inning and visibly grimaced in pain. He tugged at his right side but waved off his manager to stay in the game. Baty even made a tough across-the-body throw to first base to end the inning.

Then, in the middle of the second, Baty was removed from the mound and replaced by Ronny Mauricio. In the dugout, cameras caught him talking to trainers before he disappeared into the clubhouse. After the game, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed the issue was with Baty’s side.

“It’s the oblique area, the right side,” Mendoza shared. “Felt it on that swing. We saw it. He waved me off, and then when he made that play, that throw, you could see it.” When asked if the injury could end Baty’s season, Mendoza replied, “Yeah, I mean, you know, it’s too early, but just watching the faces he was making, that area right there is tricky.”

The manager’s tone suggested the team was preparing for the worst with only two games left in the regular season.

But just minutes later, Brett Baty offered confidence and defiance while speaking to SNY. When asked how his side felt, he replied, “Feels good right now.” It was a stunning contradiction to his manager’s assessment. But we love to hear that contradiction in a season where everything already felt like walking on thin ice, right? 

“I obviously want to play,” Baty mentioned. “There’s only two days left, so if there’s any possibility of me playing, I’m going to play.”

Yet, the Mets will possibly place Baty on the IL if his oblique is injured. And if that happens, he will be out of the lineup in the remaining two games before the postseason for sure. But the team will miss Baty’s bat, who was in the middle of a breakout year, slashing .254/.313/.435 with an OPS of .748 and 18 home runs.

Losing that production right now is a devastating blow. So the manager does not want to erase all the chances. “We’ve got to wait and see tomorrow how he wakes up and if he’s able to do anything,” Mendoza clarified.

But if Baty cannot play, who can replace him

Ronny Mauricio offers a better glove but a much weaker bat, hitting just .228 this season. The Mets could use Mark Vientos, who has more power with 17 home runs, but his glove is a significant liability, and he’s also mired in a deep slump, hitting just .146 in his last 15 games. Luisangel Acuña is another candidate who can replace him this weekend, and if they qualify, then in October.

And beyond Baty, Mets will have to find other solutions in the coming days, before it’s too late. They have to come up with who they will choose to start the game on Sunday, as both Sean Manaea and David Peterson have struggled badly down the stretch. Plus, they have a center field problem where they struggle to choose between Brandon Nimmo and Tyrone Taylor.

On top of that, after the star trio of Alonso, Lindor, and Juan Soto, the lineup has a massive drop-off in production. In this kind of situation, the news of losing Baty, who was slashing a .313/.375/.504 since August 2, is a major blow.

And most unfortunately, the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1, moving their record to 82-78, tied with the Mets. Now, the only hope is that the Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the San Diego Padres, which dropped their record to 80-80.

So, to get into the postseason, the Mets must win their final two games and hope the Reds lose at least one. A tie is no longer good enough for New York.