David Stearns owes it to this team to be aggressive in adding relief help at the trade deadline...
Plus, the Mets nearly blew another one thanks to a near-meltdown by the club's beleaguered and understaffed bullpen
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets survived a late scare to beat the Nationals 9-7 at Nationals Park on Monday (box)
LHP David Peterson pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out two in a promising outing
RHP Dedniel Núñez allowed one earned run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout, before LHP Jake Diekman came in and pitched a scoreless ninth inning
The wheels began to fall off in extra-innings, however, with LHP Tyler Jay being shelled for four runs - three earned - on two hits in the bottom of the 10th
RHP Reed Garrett entered the game and was able to record the final out with the tying runs on base
DH J.D. Martinez saved the bullpen’s bacon, blasting a clutch three-run homer in the tenth to effectively win the game
C Francisco Alvarez added some insurance with an RBI triple, as did 2B Jose Iglesias who hit his first home run as a Met
Martinez and Alvarez each finished with three RBI, while 3B Mark Vientos went 2-for-4 with a double, one run scored and a RBI
The Mets opened up July by returning to .500 (41-41), and they are now just 1.5 games back of the final wild card spot
RHP Christian Scott will return from the minors to get the start against the Nationals on Wednesday
RHP Brandon Sproat has entered MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects List at No. 98. The Mets now have six prospects on that list (MLB Pipeline)
Injury Updates 🏥
OF Brandon Nimmo was out of the lineup on Monday after falling in his hotel room and cutting his head. He expects to return to the lineup on Tuesday
RHP Kodai Senga (shoulder, triceps) will begin a minor league rehab assignment for High-A Brooklyn on Wednesday
Who’s Hot 🔥
Over the last seven days, Mark Vientos is hitting .364/.440/.864/.1.304 with three homers, two doubles, three walks and eight RBI
Over a span of 28 days, Francisco Alvarez is slashing .377/.452/.698/.1.150 with 20 hits, eight runs scored, six doubles, one triple, three homers and 15 RBI
In his last two outings, Adrian Houser has pitched a combined five scoreless innings while allowing four hits with one walk and four strikeouts
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Mike Vasil (No. 12 prospect, Triple-A): 6.0 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
1B Mike Brosseau (Triple-A): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR
RHP Tyler Stuart (Double-A): 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
RHP Jonathan Pintaro (High-A): 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (41-41) at Nationals (39-45)
Where: Nationals Park - Washington, DC
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (5-3, 3.89 ERA) vs. LHP DJ Herz (1-2, 5.48 ERA)
When: 6:45 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
David Stearns owes it to this team to be aggressive getting bullpen help… ✍️
There was a happy ending to the Mets’ latest wild adventure on Monday night.
However, the way in which they climbed back to .500 only highlights this team’s serious flaws while underlining the crucial job president of baseball operations David Stearns has ahead of him.
David Peterson did his job by going 6.1 IP and allowing just two runs. The offense did their job for the most part. Dedniel Núñez - who has become one of the most reliable late inning relievers in the game - did his job over 1.1 IP in relief of Peterson.
But then, just as was the case in the final two games against the Astros over the weekend, the rest of the bullpen came in and decided to light the whole thing up on flames and make things way too interesting. Again.
After putting up a six-spot in the top of the tenth, thanks to a three-run homer from JD Martínez, a triple from Francisco Álvarez and home run from José Iglesias, Tyler Jay was shelled for four runs in the bottom of the inning. And, just like that, the Mets were in very real danger of collapsing like a cheap pack of cards for the third consecutive game with the tying runs on-base and the winning run at the plate.
If things ended right there and then, all of the good vibes that had been built up over the last month would have vanished in a thick cloud of dust.
After all, it is hard to stay positive after losing three straight games in such tough fashion.
Thankfully, the six-spot was just enough for this undermanned bullpen to squeak by and run away with a win.
The Mets survived to snap a short two-game losing streak, while ensuring New York opened July by returning to .500.
Now it is time for Stearns to do his job.
I’m not going to dive into specifics because our own Justin Mears did an excellent job of breaking down potential reliever targets on Monday. You can read that incredible piece right here.
Think of this as more of a call to arms.
The current bullpen situation can only be described as an unmitigated crisis, and Stearns owes it to this team to take decisive action. Heck, he owes it to the fans to act now to ensure that this season doesn’t fall off a cliff.
Because, let’s be clear, if the bullpen isn’t addressed and if it isn’t bolstered with much-needed reinforcements, then it is likely the rest of the year will go down the tubes and the Mets’ playoff hopes with it. You can’t keep running out bodies like Tyler Jay and Matt Festa (no disrespect to them) and expect to win a lot of games. You just can’t.
This bullpen is absolutely gassed and it has been for more than a hot minute now. It is also seriously undermanned. Brooks Raley and Drew Smith are done for the year. Sean Reid-Foley is hurt. And, although Edwin Díaz will be able to return from suspension soon, you can’t really bank on getting consistent greatness from him the rest of the way. Who knows how this 10-game suspension has impacted his rhythm and mentality. As a result, too many relievers are pitching in roles they aren’t suited for, and too many non-major league pitchers are on the active roster right now. And you shouldn’t have guys like Jay and Festa pitching important innings for this team in June and July, let alone in August and September.
This team, against all odds, has propelled itself back into contention thanks to an electrifying, red-hot offense and solid pitching that battles through and gets the job done. Of course, if the Mets are able to get more length from some of their starters, then that would certainly ease the heavy load on the bullpen and go some way to limiting the potential damage until we reach the trade deadline.
But the bullpen has been a problem from day one and adding a handful of proven MLB veteran relievers to that group has to be the utmost priority for Stearns now.
He should be hammering the phones day and night and getting all of his ducks in a row ready to go for the trade deadline.
The Mets need 2-3 proven arms and the good news is that there are a slew of options out there. And the price may well come down on a few of them the closer we get to the deadline.
We’ve reached the point now where all talk about this team being sellers can be launched out of the window. They have earned the right to be considered buyers, even if they only make a few moves to improve on the margins.
And, thanks to a red-hot June and an unstoppable offense that has made the postseason a real possibility again, Stearns owes it to the players in the clubhouse and to the fans in the stands to go out and address what has been a real weakness.
His team have done their job. It is now his turn to do his and be aggressive in adding relief help so that this team can continue to make it an interesting summer and continue to compete for a wild card spot.
If Stearns fails in his first really big mission as the captain of the ship, then all of the hard work in making up ground and getting back to .500 would have been for nothing.
And this team and long-suffering Mets fans deserve better than that.
Around the League 🚩
Former Major Leaguer Andrew Miller was named special assistant for strategic initiatives by the MLB Players Association
Nationals OF James Wood, the No. 3 overall prospect in baseball, collected his first Major League hit against the Mets
Yordan Alvarez had a home run and two RBI as the Astros beat the Blue Jays 3-1 in Toronto on Canada Day
Jake Cave hit a walk-off RBI single as the Rockies overcame the Brewers 8-7 in extra-innings
Stop kidding yourself. This is NOT a playoff team! As I've previously stated, it really doesn't matter what Stearns does to manipulate the roster, unless the Mets starting staff can consistently provide 6 innings per game. The bullpen is shot because they've been forced to go 4+ innings almost every night . It's unsustainable. And they can't count on being able to outslug the opposition, as the did last night.