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If the Mets are going to play in October, Jose Quintana wants to position himself to start games in October.
There are obstacles, the most significant being the Braves, Diamondbacks and Padres, who are fighting with the Mets for three National League wild-card spots.
Internally, there is plenty of competition with Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and David Peterson performing like the front end of a rotation, Paul Blackburn returning and Kodai Senga looming as an option even if he will not be fully built up.
But Quintana — a 35-year-old in his 13th big-league season — is planning on finishing the season strong, which would help the Mets’ playoff chase and further his own goals.
“Definitely, I want to be in the [postseason] rotation,” Quintana said before the Mets’ 6-4, 10-inning win over the Reds at Citi Field on Friday, “and I know I need to win that spot.”
His quest for that spot continues Saturday when he will get the ball for what likely is his first of four September outings.
The lefty characterized his season as having a lot of “ups and downs,” which has added up to a middling 4.27 ERA.
He was mostly beaten up for his first four August starts (allowing 19 earned runs in 20 ²/₃ innings) before rebounding in allowing one earned run in 11 ¹/₃ innings against the Padres and White Sox.
Quintana has pitched well enough to remain in the starting group all season, logging 27 starts, but has been surpassed by the trio at the top, who have emerged in the past couple of months.
Manaea has looked like an ace in gaining strength as the season has worn on, Severino has bounced back and owns a 2.10 ERA in his past four starts and Peterson holds a 2.75 ERA in his 17 starts.
The postseason format includes a best-of-three wild-card round before a best-of-five division series.
After 145 ¹/₃ innings this season, Quintana said he feels “amazing” and feels he recently has made adjustments in attacking hitters earlier in counts that have helped straighten him out.
“I expect to be better and do the best for the team,” said Quintana, who has pitched in five postseason games in his career but just one (a strong start for the Cardinals in 2022) since 2018.
If the Mets surge into the postseason and Quintana falls out of the rotation, he said he would do “whatever it takes for the team,” open to a spot in the bullpen.
But Quintana, who will be a free agent at season’s end, is hoping his performance forces the team to keep him where he has been all year.
“That’s a goal for me, to be in the rotation in the playoffs,” Quintana said. “We need to win to deserve that.”
