NL WILD CARD SERIES: METS VS BREWERS

October 1, 2024

Carlos Mendoza

American Family Field

New York Mets

Pregame Press Conference

Q. I'm sure you've answered this already, but can you contextualize what the last 72 hours have been like for you and your ball club and the travel and the uncertainties?

CARLOS MENDOZA: The story of our season. I don't think that was the first time we went through what we went through. We had some tough road trips scheduling-wise, West Coast, back in for one game, back out for the West Coast. A couple of tough losses throughout the year, a few of them actually, and the ability to bounce back. Get hit in the face and find a way to get back and get it done.

We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but here we are. Crazy, crazy roller coaster, but I'm just proud of the guys who were able to get it done after that Game 1 yesterday and now here we are, when no one expected us to be in this position.

Q. Max making the postseason roster and hasn't pitched in the majors in a couple years, what made you all decide to put him on there?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Max? Oh, Kranick, yeah. Got to give him credit, proud of him, because it wasn't easy for him. He was dealing with injuries at the beginning of the year, and then we put him in the bullpen and the VELO went up. The reports we were getting is how well he was throwing the baseball.

We had a decision. We had a three-game set. Miguel wasn't going to be available, so we needed that length out of the bullpen a guy who can give multiple who's available and also has some quality pitches.

You've got to give him credit. That goes to show you it's baseball and rosters continue to evolve the whole year, and now we're in the playoffs and we added a guy who hasn't thrown a pitch for us the whole year, credit of player development to him. I'm excited to have him on the roster today.

Q. Every team, every opponent has its own challenges, strengths and weaknesses. What is it about the Brewers that makes them a challenge?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I think everybody in baseball knows who they are. They're going to be aggressive. The way they run the bases, how well they play defense, and not to mention how good their bullpen is. There's a reason why they have that record and the way they won the division.

They are a really good team. They are deep. They are versatile. They are athletic. They have guys who can hit balls out of the ballpark, but they create traffic. They make things happen. Pretty talented group, and they're managed by a really good manager.

Q. Carlos, you've been in postseasons before where there have been quick turnarounds like you have today. How does adrenaline offset fatigue? Is there any kind of a process there? Other than drinking a lot of coffee or whatever. Or is it just sort of natural that the ebbs and flows of postseason baseball take over?

CARLOS MENDOZA: I think that's exactly right. You know this is postseason, and once you take the field and the crowd and the atmosphere, you want to feed off that. You probably feel it after a game, like yesterday's case. You got done after the crazy Game 1, and you go through a celebration after Game 2, 18 innings later, and then you're probably feeling it on the way here.

But once you get up this morning, it's go time. Like I said, it's going to take a little bit for these guys to get going early in the afternoon, but once the first pitch is thrown, they'll be ready. I mean, atmosphere will tell you.

Q. You guys spend so much focus, energy, extra travel, just to get into the playoffs. Is there any type of just moment to sit down and think and recalibrate for the playoffs? Or like Nimmo said yesterday, it's just what we've done all year. We fly to a different city, go to sleep, get up and play a game. Is that the kind of mindset that you guys want to continue to have, just the same grind you've been doing the whole time?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Why change? We're doing it. We've been doing it the whole year.

Talk about traveling, we went to London. That seems like that was last year.

Yeah, not only that, but just our ability to get back up, especially after losing some tough games, whether it's traveling -- and the biggest thing is we can't use this as an excuse. Every team will go through it. Every team will face adversity, whether it's injuries, whether it's travel, whatever the case may be, we have everything, and here we are.

I'm just proud, and we won't change.

Q. We just spent a lot of time talking about Mets history in Atlanta that you overcame. Recently the Mets have not had a good record in this ballpark. What is it about that, and is that something you talked to them at all about?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Not at all, not at all. It's baseball, and anything can happen, especially on a three-game series?

One thing we've done the whole year is blocking the noise. And there's a lot of noise, especially in New York. That's what makes this team such a really good team and our ability to stick together and not paying attention to what's outside of our building.

Whether it's Atlanta, whether it's here, we've got to go out there and play baseball. We have to execute. We have to play well, and the rest will take care of itself. I'm not putting too much into it. We've just got to go out there and do it.

Q. Given how aggressive they've been on the base paths, was there much thought to putting Torrens over Alvarez? What are the thoughts there?

CARLOS MENDOZA: Alvarez is our guy. Luis has done a helluva job, but Alvarez is our guy. In order for us to get to where we're going to get, we need both of them. So no, not at all.

Q. Because of what it's taken for you to get here between the expectations of the beginning of the season and the rocky road that it's been to get to this point, people outside New York might look at the Mets and say they're playing with house money now.

Is that anything that you feel you need to address with the players or that they've perhaps talked about amongst themselves that there's no such thing as house money as opposed to thinking, well, they're lucky to be here and roll the dice?

CARLOS MENDOZA: No, I don't feel there's a need to talk to the team. We know what's at stake. We earned it. We deserve it. We're good, and we're going to go out there and compete. Whatever happens happens. That's been our mindset the whole year.

We know we're good, but we also know they're good too. But we've got to go in between the lines and see what happens. Guys are ready to go. They've been ready to go. See what happens.