You dont need an Ivy League degree (Mets owner Steve Cohen and baseball president David Stearns have them) or analytics expertise (the Mets employ as many numbers crunchers as anyone) to understand that the 2024 Mets chances to make the playoffs and eliminate the hated Braves are better than ever now. While FanGraphs puts the Mets October opportunity at 76.2 percent, their chances seem even better than that. All the Mets Luke Appling Jersey need to do is win the highly anticipated series in Atlanta that starts Tuesday night. Thats it, take two out of three and their ticket is punched for very meaningful games in October (and even if they win only one of three, they still hold the edge with a series to go in Stearns old stomping grounds of Milwaukee). The Mets are close to becoming a playoff team during their first year under David Stearns. Jason Szenes for the NY Post Stearns told The Post in spring training he believed they , and for today he looks right about that, and just about everything else, too. He is as good as advertised when Cohen , complete with postseason incentives that werent expected to come into play until 2025. Fairly, too, it doesnt hurt to have a tiny bit of luck (more on that below). The Mets hit Atlanta with all the advantages, with the obvious exception of recent history, where the Braves are practically pitching a shutout against the Mets. More From Jon Heyman The Mets are the hotter team. In a league of ridiculous parity (excepting the White Sox, who already with their 120th defeat), the Mets 63-37 record since June 1 is the majors best, as is their 15-5 September mark. They hit better than the Braves. The Mets po se s one of baseballs deepest lineups, and lately they are even getting enormous contributions from the . One guy is more remarkable than the next. Rookie fill-in shortstop Luisangel Acua, a ble sing according to one Mets person (no pun intended), , which is better than most everyone but Shohei Ohtani. (Not even Mets people saw this coming, not after Acua posted a .654 OPS in Triple-A.) Luisangel Acua has helped the Mets overcome the absence of Francisco Lindor. Jason Szenes for the NY Post Now for that little bit of luck. Rival execs suggest Acua was the highest-ranked prospect the Mets were seriously listening on at the deadline. Wisely, they didnt trade him, and the belief of team execs now is that hes a player who prefers the big stage, where they find themselves now. Meantime, Lindors leadoff replacement, the very veteran Jose Iglesias, leads the majors among players with 260 plate appearances with a .337 batting average not bad for a guy who signed minors deals four years running. (The one casualty of Lindors painful back injury is his MVP hopes, as Shohei Ohtani, fairly, clinched the award .) They are the healthier team. The Braves are without several stars, including Luisangels brother, (it must feel good to have the star Acua for a change!), plus Spencer Strider, Austin Riley and Reynaldo Lopez. The Mets, quite frankly, bring the better active roster. Sean Manaea has become a seven-inning star for the Mets after changing his arm slot. Jason Szenes for the NY Post If they do make it, credit to the players, who exceeded almost exclusively middling expectations. And credit to Stearns and Co. Stearns was the guy Cohen wanted all along, and he looks worth the two-year wait. If Stearns didnt bat 1.000, he came closer than just about anyone, and that wasnt easy in a transition year when they allocated under $100M for new player deals (or le s than 10 percent what Cohen spent the previous three seasons on player contracts). The mi ses were mostly in low-cost flyers Adrian Houser, Jorge Lopez, Jake Diekman, Michael Tonkin and scarcely worth mentioning, barely tip money for the owner. Stearns hit homers on the three biggest decisions among many excellent calls. Luis Severino overcame four years of injuries and a 2023 season in which he declared himself the worst pitcher in the majors, thanks to better health and enormous work. For $13M, hed be the NL rotation deal of the year if not for rotation-mate Sean Manaea ($26M for two, plus an opt out). Manaea already was showing serious improvement when he decided to emulate likely NL Cy Young winner Chris Sale after watching Sale shut down the Mets midseason. Manaea changed his arm slot, altered his pitch mix and turned into a seven-inning star, the kind that barely exists in MLB anymore. Delivering insights on all things Amazins Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+ Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! The biggest call, ultimately, was to bring Carlos Mendoza acro s town after mi sing out on managerial star Craig Counsell (as good as Counsell is, the Mets look wise not to have outbid the Cubs). Mendoza, a Manager of the Year candidate, is proving to be the needed steady leader. Yes, everything is going their way. But if they dont make it out of Atlanta alive, no one will recall they improved dramatically from last years debacle, came back from an 0-5 start, or that for 100 games anyway, they were baseballs best team. The pre sure is on, but this time they look like they are more than up to the challenge. Jake Eder Jersey