I have to be honest:

I’ve been way more upset at the end of Mets seasons than I am today.

Don’t get me wrong - I’m sad.

But I’m sad for different reasons than usual.

In the past when the Mets have lost a playoff series, it’s because you felt they didn’t show what they were capable of - 2022 and 2016 ended too soon…2015 and 2006 felt like they should have been different…1999 and 2000 and 1988 all seemed like teams that ran into the wrong opponent.

This year?

I think the Mets just finally ran out of steam.

You know the saying, You can’t win a championship in April, but you can lose one?

I think this Mets team is evidence of that.

Not in the sense of where you get buried in April and May and can’t recover, like the 2023 Mets did. (And this team came dangerously close to doing.)

But in terms of needing to use so many resources early on just to get themselves back into contention, and then using so many more to get into the playoffs…and then the playoffs themselves.

Think back to April, when the starters couldn't get past the fifth inning and the bullpen was so overworked…some of those arms ended up being hurt along the way, some of those arms ended up needing to be released…and some of them were still the arms the Mets needed to rely on in the middle of October.

It’s frustrating to watch the Mets get eliminated when the other team throws a bunch of relievers at you…but the Dodgers could do that because they had healthier arms and over the course of the year used the bullpen differently than the Mets.

They could - they were playing from ahead all year (though it got close a couple of times) while the Mets were playing catchup all year.

The Mets have had such little margin for error for so long - and it finally caught up to them.

Just think if Drew Smith or Dedniel Nunez had never gotten hurt - perhaps victims of overuse - and the role they could have played in this postseason. Same with Sean Reid-Foley. Maybe if the Mets don’t dig their deep hole right off the bat guys like Michael Tonkin or Jorge Lopez can hang around longer to ease the burden on the rest of the bullpen. Reed Garrett pitched as much in April as he did in October…but maybe if they don’t rely on him so heavily in April he doesn’t spend the middle part of the year hurt and ineffective and that eases the burden on the bullpen.

I’m spending so much time lamenting this because the arms the Mets trotted out in Game 6 were shot. Edwin Diaz gave the best performance because he seemed to finally find his form and even though he was used a lot the last month or so, he had also been used the least in the time leading up to that.

It was hard to watch Sean Manaea struggle through his final few innings of what otherwise was a great 2024. But eventually - for most guys anyway - the arm gives out. You hope it lasts another couple of weeks, but I can’t blame Manaea for tiring.

The bats found new life after the Mets were shut down early in the series - that’s the kind of thing you can rejuvenate.

But when you run out of arms, that’s it.

And the 2024 Mets ran out of arms.

But man did they fight until that last out, and that’s why it feels different.

They put their best foot forward and left nothing on the table.

They took the season to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series, and that was pretty wonderful.

Maybe the 2025 Mets have a more balanced season, which leaves them a little bit better armed for October.

Maybe they never get this core group of players back here. That’s a conversation for another time.

I have one last reflection on this 2024 team that I’ll get to later this week.

For now, Let’s Go Mets.