Buck Showalter consulted his baseball memory bank and wondered – jokingly – about a possible tripleheader in Atlanta on Thursday.
“I think I played one [tripleheader] somewhere,” the Mets manager said before his club suffered a 6-4 loss to the Marlins on Tuesday at Citi Field.
No, the Mets and Braves won’t squeeze three games into a single day, but just about everything else seems to be on the table.
There were conversations involving the Mets, Braves and Major League Baseball on Tuesday, a day before Hurricane Ian hit Florida and three days before heavy rains and winds hit Georgia.
The Mets and Braves are gearing up for the most important series of the season — and possibly all of baseball — set to begin Friday, just as the hurricane is expected to wreak havoc in Atlanta. Rain from the currently Category 3 hurricane is expected to continue through the weekend. Governor Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency for all counties in Georgia.
Major League Baseball could move one or even two of the series’ games to Thursday, which is a mutual day off. The Mets are scheduled to fly to Atlanta after Wednesday night’s game, while the Braves play Wednesday night in Washington. Should they decide to play two Thursdays in Atlanta, they could hope the weather clears in time for their series finale Sunday night.
A source told The Post’s Mike Puma that the Braves think the only “uncertain” game day this weekend will be Saturday. If that match is sold out, then they could play a split head-to-head double on Sunday.
The problem with relying on games this weekend would be the challenge of making them up in a campaign that has been condensed due to the lockdown. The MLB season ends Oct. 5, and the NL Wildcard Series is scheduled to begin Oct. 7.
The Braves and Mets could agree to move the series to a neutral location – teams such as the Royals, Reds, Rangers and Marlins (who will host the Braves in their final series of the season) will be on the road – but it’s hard to imagine the Braves happily giving up home-court advantage and big ticket sales.
A source said in the last few days of chat that there was “nothing on specific relocation sites”, at least so far. Any changes to dates or location would likely need to be determined no later than Wednesday, giving the league as much time as possible to let the hurricane run its course.
Showalter, who declined to reveal much about the talks because he swore ‘secret double probation’, has repeatedly said he and the club are focused on the Marlins, not the series’ status. with the Braves. He acknowledged that the Mets had to prepare for the unknown.
The Mets were “making sure we were positioning ourselves to go in as many directions as possible,” with their rotation, Showalter said.
The Mets lined up Chris Bassitt, Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer for all three games against the Braves. Due to last Monday’s day off, Bassitt would still have an extra day off if he pitched Thursday instead of Friday. DeGrom would be on normal rest if needed Thursday.
The Braves, who fended off Max Fried and lined him up for the Mets, could have their more rested ace Kyle Wright, who pitched last Saturday, available if the series is advanced.
“At some point you have to tell the pitchers until workdays,” said Showalter, who added that general manager Billy Eppler is leading the talks for the Mets.
Both teams also need to plan their rotations after the weekend’s huge streak and before the playoffs. Whoever throws on Friday (or Thursday) would be in play for Game 162.
“When they tell us to play, we play. That’s what we do,” Showalter said. “If they say we play three on Thursday, line them up.”
