Luis Severino believes the Mets can surprise everyone by reaching the playoffs

PHILADELPHIA – If Luis Severino and his teammates do enough to get the Mets to October, the veteran right-hander, who is in the midst of a stellar comeback season, isn't ruling anything out.

“We have a good team, so if we get into the playoffs, any team that is in the best position has a chance,” Severino said Friday before the Mets' clear 11-3 win over the Phillies.

For inspiration, he only has to look at Arizona's run to the World Series a year ago, which saw a team win 84 games.

“If you look at our team, we could be a team like Arizona last year or Washington. [in 2019, when the Nationals won the World Series as a wild card]. When they did that, they were teams that nobody expected to be in that position, and then they shocked everyone.”

According to Severino, the Mets could do something similar.

“If we make the playoffs, God knows what can happen,” Severino said.

Considering what's at stake, the prospect of playing the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park while the Mets try to secure a playoff spot in the final two or more weeks of the season might seem like a lot of pressure.

Severino, who has been through pretty much everything in his career, sees things differently.

“For me, it's the same thing,” Severino said a day before he was scheduled to make another key start in the Mets' postseason hunt. “From now on, every game is important. I know they have a good lineup and they're a good team, but I'm treating it the same way I did when I pitched at home against Cincinnati. It's a game we have to win, so I have to give my team a chance.”

Although the Mets enter Saturday with just a .500 record this season when Severino starts them (14-14), the right-hander has been particularly good lately.

Starting with his full-game shutout on August 17, Severino has an ERA of 1.95.

In these five games, the right-hander allowed one or fewer runs in each game, except for one time: on August 28, when he was penalized for four runs in Arizona.

The outstanding end-of-season performance is all the more impressive considering the workload of the 30-year-old, who enters Saturday's game with 166 innings pitched, his best performance since 2018, when he threw 191 for the Yankees.

As good as he feels physically, Severino is also optimistic about his team, which began the season on Friday with a one-game lead over Atlanta for the last wild card spot in the NL.

However, beginning with the series against the NL East-leading Phillies, the Mets have the most difficult remaining schedule in the Major League, with series against the Brewers and Braves still to come, and another game next week at Citi Field against Philadelphia.

“We're in a good position,” Severino said. “We have a great chance now against these good teams. It's a great chance for us to prove ourselves.”

They have already recovered this year after being written off more than once, and Severino believes there is reason for optimism.

“If we make the playoffs, anything is possible. So our mindset is still to win the series,” Severino said. “At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is if we get a playoff spot. There's no reason why we shouldn't do it.”