The Mets have been saying it’s “all hands on deck” in the postseason. They couldn’t have gotten to the NLCS without the contributions of just about everyone on the roster, and even those who are no longer on the roster. Even Jorge Lopez deserves some credit, considering the bullpen implosion against the Los Angeles Dodgers that he was a part of forced the Mets to reckon with their 22-33 record in the form of a players-only meeting. That was May 29. Since June 1, the Mets have had the best record in baseball and they’re headed to the NLCS to face the Dodgers starting Sunday in Los Angeles. It’s funny how things come full circle sometimes. While the Mets undoubtedly needed everyone to get them to their first League Championship Series since 2015, there are some players who stand out above the rest and they’ll be key for the Amazins’ against a juggernaut like the Dodgers. Francisco Lindor is a no-brainer. He’s the Mets’ MVP and the bat behind two of the greatest home runs in team history. The other one, left-hander David Peterson, has seemingly emerged as the Mets’ most important pitcher behind closer Edwin Diaz. * * * Francisco Lindor When Lindor went to the World Series with Cleveland in 2016 his life looked a lot different. At 22, the shortstop was living up to his billing. The wide smile, the way he fielded ground balls so fluidly and the gap-to-gap power from both sides of the plate had him looking like the future of the franchise. His mom would cook for him after games, his sisters would visit and the world outside of his own would debate just how good he could someday become. Now 30, his ceiling may not have been reached, which is scary thought for pitchers around the league. Lindor is the face of a much different franchise, one that’s spending a lot of money to get to the World Series. He’s married and a father of two daughters. Lindor has become every bit as dominant as he was projected to become, but it’s his belief in himself and the team around him that makes him more than just a great player, it makes him a leader and a winner. It makes him the kind of player who can hit a go-ahead grand slam in the most important moment of the season, as he did Wednesday night in Game 4 of the NLDS. “I knew he was a great player, but I think what you don’t see from the outside is how he structures his entire life to do what he did [Wednesday night] and how disciplined he is in everything he does,” said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. “To get to the point where in the biggest moment of his life, he can put a tremendous swing at a 100 mile per hour fastball and send us the NLCS.” It’s abundantly clear just by watching the way he plays that Lindor is giving everything he has to the Mets. He’s been playing through a back injury for about a month now, though you wouldn’t notice by the way he uses every bit of his range and quickness to get to ground balls. After hitting his game-breaking home run in Atlanta to send the Mets to the postseason, he let himself feel all of his emotions on the field. He worked for it, he carried the team on his bad back and got them over the finish line and into the playoffs with a .336 average and 1.084 OPS in regular season wins. However, since that memorable night in Atlanta, many have noticed that his demeanor has become business-like. There are no bat flips. He rounds the bases with his head down. While he enjoys himself during champagne celebrations in the clubhouse, Lindor feels closer and closer to his ultimate goal with each win. Celebrating anything other than that seems premature. “I want to win it all,” Lindor said after hitting a go-ahead grand slam in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday night. “I want to win it all. And ours will be a team that will forever be remembered. This will be a team that comes every ten years and eat for free everywhere they go. And I want to do that, but the job is not done. We have a good team and play the game the right way. We respect our opponents and go out there and give everything we have.” This NLCS will feature the two frontrunners for the NL MVP Award, Lindor and Shohei Ohtani. It would be more fun if Ohtani could pitch to Lindor, but it still feels apt to have two of the best players duking it out for a pennant. “He’s showing up in the biggest moments of the year consistently,” Stearns said. “I don’t know if there’s another player in baseball you want at the plate right now in that situation.” * * * David Peterson When the Mets drafted Peterson in the first round of the 2017 draft, they expected him to become a frontline starter within a few years. They thought they were getting a polished, poised, mature pitcher out of the University of Oregon. It took a few more years than the Mets initially thought, but that polish and poise is showing in the postseason. Peterson’s health has made all the difference, with his offseason hip surgery allowing him to pitch with better mechanics and without any hesitation. And when you’re coming into the middle of a game as a starter, you can’t pitch with hesitation. “He’s the reason we won the game,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner told the Daily News after the Mets eliminated the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night. Peterson pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief in that elimination game. In the one before that in Milwaukee, he played the role of the closer. Starting pitchers have authored some of the postseason’s most iconic moments while pitching in relief and Peterson is authoring his own. Who could forget Madison Bumgarner getting the last out in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series? Charlie Morton got the last out for the Houston Astros in 2017 and Chris Sale did the same for the Boston Red Sox the next year. However, they didn’t have another game to think about. There was no next start to make. What Peterson is doing as a Swiss Army Knife of sorts takes some toughness and adaptability to ditch the routine that led him to a career-best 2.90 ERA in 21 starts this season. “It’s not easy what he’s done,” Mendoza said. “This is a guy that’s been a starter, and then all of a sudden, we clinched a playoff spot and we’re asking him to go to the bullpen, and he’s adjusting really well. It’s fluid, but I could see him playing a big role in this next series coming up out of the bullpen as well.” Peterson throws a lot of pitches and commands most of them well. At 6-6, he gets great extension off the mound, making for an intimidating presence. He gets ahead of hitters, and though he does get a lot of strikeouts, he doesn’t rely on them. Instead, he mostly keeps the ball on the ground. The Dodgers are running out of pitching, while the Mets not only have Kodai Senga back, but they have Peterson who can pick up outs at any point in the game. “That’s another weapon that [can be] deployed at any time, at any point in the game,” Mendoza said. “Whether it’s in the middle of the game, for a multi-inning role or for a high leverage situation against a lefty.” Peterson’s path to this point has not been linear. He spent time in Triple-A last season and plenty of time in the rehab room this season. But he’s now a crucially important weapon as the Mets start the NLCS and he’s embracing the role. “In the playoffs, it’s a challenge whether it’s men on, no one out, starting — whatever it is,” Peterson said. “We’re fighting to continue our season.”