The Mets this past weekend were presented with the opportunity to end a dreadful June on a high note.
Coming off two straight wins against the Atlanta Braves, the Amazins flew to Pittsburgh for a quick, three-game road trip with plans of beating up on the hopeless Pirates and returning home with a long-overdue win streak. Instead, it was the Pirates who dismantled New York, sweeping the series and sending the Mets into a 3-13 free fall that dates back to June 13. In that span, they’ve lost three starting pitchers and one reliever to injuries — including ace Kodai Senga — and have not won a single series.
Sometimes, rock bottom has no floor.
(Photo by Rayni Shiring/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Things have gotten so bad for the Mets that their owner took to social media to vent his thoughts on the state of the team.
“Tough stretch, no sugarcoating it,” Mets owner Steve Cohen said in a post on Monday morning. “I didn’t see this coming. I’m as frustrated as everybody else. We will get through this period. Our injured pitching will come back over the next few weeks. It is unlikely the team’s hitting with RISP will continue at this weak pace. Keep the faith!”
As if the pressure from their fan base wasn’t bad enough, and the grievances airing on New York sports talk shows weren’t at an all-time high, the Mets head honcho decided to add salt in their wounds. When a crash is this hard and this fast, there’s no refuge.
Just one month ago, we lauded the Mets for their excellent pitching — a staff that was outperforming expectations despite its scarcity of name-brand starters. The team’s success across the first two-plus months of the season was driven primarily by bargain-bin arms who were rising to the occasion.
Yet, throughout the Mets’ many triumphs — becoming the first National League team to reach 40 wins, spending 35 consecutive days in first place, and boasting the best starting pitching in the major leagues through the end of May — there was always a nagging thought in the back of everyone’s minds.
Can this level of success really be sustainable given the lack of star power in the starting rotation? Isn’t it just a matter of time before these over-delivering arms come back down to earth or sustain injuries?
Every big-league baseball team deals with adversity, but the injuries to the rotation and bullpen have hurt the Mets profoundly. Losing Senga (hamstring strain), Tylor Megill (elbow sprain), Griffin Canning (season-ending surgery), and Max Kranick (elbow strain) in the span of two weeks is the kind of nightmare scenario that can wipe out any team’s winning ways, no matter the pitching depth that’s in preserve.
(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
Of course, one way to combat the deficiency in pitching is for the Mets offense to overwhelm the opponent. Alas, there are few silver linings for a Mets lineup that ranks 29th in batting average with runners in scoring position this season.
Even Juan Soto, who after a rough start to the season looked more like himself at the plate in June (1.196 OPS, 11 home runs, 25 walks), can’t save the offense on his own. Shortstop Francisco Lindor enjoyed his best start to a season in several years before slumping into a below-average hitter last month (.204 average, .628 OPS, four home runs). Slugger Pete Alonso, after an ascendant April, slowed down in May and then excelled again last month. Over the past two weeks, New York’s offense has a wRC+ of 88 that’s ranked 24th in the major leagues.
The Mets lineup, designed to be top-heavy, has been up-and-down this year. Whereas in the past their excellent pitching masked some of their cold bats, the club’s latest offensive slide is overlapping with the pitching staff’s injury bug. There is nowhere for the team’s flaws to hide.
So, where do the Mets go from here?
It starts with continued bold decision-making from Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, who is now tasked with the responsibility of making at least a couple of jaw-dropping and splashy moves to help save the Mets season.
A few weeks ago, the Mets would’ve been in solid shape if the front office was primarily shopping for bullpen arms. But their June swoon exposed more flaws, particularly in the starting rotation and in the lineup, shifting the focus to at least three roster upgrades.
New York needs a quality starting pitcher, an impact bat who can ideally play third base, and a high-leverage bullpen arm to complement Edwin Diaz before he closes games.
Historically, these are the type of stunning, blockbuster-level moves that Stearns is not comfortable executing because, in addition to making sure the Mets win now, he’s also in charge of saving the Mets’ future. Stearns has indicated he’s reluctant to trade top prospects in the farm system, which augments Cohen’s long-term vision for the Mets organization. Cohen, since the day he bought the franchise in November 2020, has aimed to follow the Los Angeles Dodgers’ blueprint for success: a blend of prospect development and strategic free-agent signings. In order to get there, he will need his head of operations to protect his top prospects in potential trade propositions.
It will be fascinating to see over the course of the next few weeks how Stearns balances his twin responsibilities.
Last July, in his first year guiding the Mets front office, Stearns took a more measured approach without significantly depleting their prospect pool. He still bolstered the bullpen, added starting pitching depth, and a left-handed bat to address the team’s needs. But many hoped he would do more, considering their 2024 season went on a special run in late May that ultimately led them to a deep postseason appearance.
His decision-making will be dictated by how hot (or not) the Mets get before the trade deadline.
(Photo by Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
If Sean Manaea and Senga come back strong and healthy and revitalize the Mets rotation, perhaps starting pitching will no longer be a dire need. If Mark Vientos returns to his power-hitting dominance of last season, Ronny Mauricio takes a positive step forward, and Francisco Alvarez becomes a game-changer in the lineup again, then maybe an impact bat is no longer necessary.
Still, it’s a poor game plan to rely on the Mets saving their season by way of hopes and dreams. In some ways, their recent free fall made Stearns’ job easier by exposing, however painful it was for fans, the flaws that needed to be addressed. It would be a disservice to the roster if he didn’t act on those weaknesses and try to fill the holes before the Mets keep digging them deeper. Whether it’s a splashy move or a measured approach, Stearns is likely waiting for buyers and sellers around the league to become clearer so that he will know where to shop.
How that plays out remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the Mets cannot continue to lose. They’re within striking distance of recapturing first place (two games behind the Phillies), but their division rivals are too strong and too good, playing with the kind of urgency that’s needed in the competitive NL East to be battle-tested for October. Allowing the Phillies to increase their distance in first place will only spell more trouble for a Mets team in dire need of reinforcements as it is.
Even though there’s a lot of season left, this is not the time for complacency. Just as quickly as they suffered a dramatic free fall, the Mets can turn the page and get hot, too. Things change fast around here, and if they want to build momentum, it has to start today.
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
Get more from Major League Baseball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Read the full article here
