The Mets are playing excellent baseball and are poised to return to the postseason after a one-year hiatus. However, since returning home from their penultimate road trip of the regular season this week, the attention has been more on the fans in the stands than the players who are actually playing baseball. SNY broadcasters called out fans for not showing up Monday against the Washington Nationals. A Monday game in September can be forgiven. People have jobs they have to get up for the next morning and kids are back in school. Fans who would rather stay home and watch Monday Night Football shouldn’t be criticized, but this is the Mets we’re talking about, so big or small, there will always be a reason for controversy. The Mets rank toward the middle of the pack in attendance this season, averaging 28,860 fans per game at Citi Field, according to ESPN. Maybe the Wild Card race just isn’t that sexy, or maybe they don’t want to pay $40 for parking and another $40 for a couple beers and a hot dog. Baseball, in this economy? Regardless of the reasoning, the team made it clear this week that they want a packed crowd this weekend against the Philadelphia Phillies. “The energy was great tonight, but we want even more,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo said after the Mets beat the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night. “This weekend, we want this place filled up. I’m pretty much convinced now we’re not in the regular season anymore — we’re playing off baseball. Every win is extremely important, it decides whether we keep playing or not. And so for us, we feed off of that energy and we and we need the fans here this weekend.” A fan who prefers to watch a game in the comfort of their own home doesn’t make them any less of a diehard. However, the players love putting on a show. Professional sports wouldn’t exist without the fans and the Mets aren’t naive to the fact that it’s a give-and-take relationship. The team feels as though they are playing good enough baseball to make the money worth spending, even without Francisco Lindor in the lineup right now (though that certainly can’t help). “When we get that energy and we hear it from the fans this time of year, it’s a lot of fun,” Nimmo said. “This is kind of what you play for.” The Grimace costumes, 7 Line cheers and the signs don’t go unnoticed. Neither do the families sitting in the nosebleed seats. Citizens Bank Park was sold out over the weekend for a rivalry series, and the Mets are hoping to have the same support this weekend at home against the same team. While these games might feel like playoff games to the guys playing them, ultimately the Mets know that they haven’t reached the postseason yet. Manager Carlos Mendoza continues to emphasize the fact that the Mets haven’t done anything yet. They’re unwilling to settle for being an also-ran this year, especially not when they’re this close to a Wild Card spot. The Mets are hoping to continue the show deep into October. “I’m not ready to call it our last homestand of the regular season,” Mendoza said. “I don’t think anybody here is ready to call it that way.” So if you’re interested, tickets are still available for the weekend slate. The Mets are pitching Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, David Peterson and Tylor Megill over four games. Lindor might return, but his understudy, rookie Luisangel Acuña, is playing like a veteran already. And if you’re not, there may still be more baseball to come in Queens next month. “That’s what we are anticipating here for the next four days — pack the house with the fanbase supporting this team,” Mendoza said. “Hopefully, there are a lot of baseball games left here in this ballpark this year.”