How concerned / encouraged should we be by Lindor and Baty?

Plus, the Mets put up an absolute clunker in their game against the Red Sox on Friday night...

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets dropped the opening game of their series to the Red Sox with a 6-2 loss at Citi Field on Friday night (box)

• RHP Nolan McLean was excellent on the mound, giving up two unearned runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts across six innings

• LHP A.J. Minter struggled out of the bullpen, allowing a two-run home run in the seventh inning. RHP Kodai Senga tossed a scoreless inning in the eighth, before LHP Cionel Pérez gave up a two-run homer and walked three in the ninth to put the game out of reach

• LF Juan Soto drove in the Mets’ first of only two runs on the night in the third on a sac fly as the offense went ice cold

• 3B Brett Baty went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a RBI, and a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, extending his hitting streak to 10 straight games

• The Mets went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, leaving seven runners stranded on base

• Soto made it clear after the game that he won’t be taking part in the Home Run Derby on Monday night

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• The Mets will have three picks on Day 1 of the 2026 MLB Draft - 27, 92, and 120

• The Mets will also have $6,730,900 in bonus pool allotment money

• The Draft Preview Show and picks 1-10 will be shown on NBC / Peacock. Coverage of the remainder of Day 1 can be found on MLB Network, MLB.com, MLB.TV, and MLB+

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Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Tobias Myers recalled from Triple-A Syracuse

• INF Zack Short selected to the Major League roster

• RHP Dan Hammer designated for assignment

• INF Mark Vientos placed on the 10-Day Injured List with a right hand fracture

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Injury Updates 🏥

• INF Mark Vientos (right hand fracture) is expected to miss 6-8 weeks but will not undergo surgery

• CF Luis Robert Jr. (Lumbar spine inflammation) went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in his latest rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton on Friday night

• RHP Clay Holmes (fractured right fibula) threw 40 pitches with no problems in a live BP with 2B Marcus Semien on Friday at Citi Field

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Play of the Game 🙃

The Red Sox endured some disruption on Friday, not landing in New York until only a few hours before the game.

However, they actually looked the more prepared team right out of the jump on Friday.

Juan Soto couldn’t handle a routine fly ball, whiffing on the play and allowing Boston leadoff hitter Anthony Seigler to reach second. That set the tone for the rest of the game with two unearned runs going on to score later in the inning, with the Mets never recovering.

Talk about self-enforced wounds.

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The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️

ICYMI: Andrew and Rich got together for their weekly recap to explain what still makes the Mets worth watching.

SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Jack Wenninger (No. 4 prospect, Triple-A): 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

• 1B Christopher Morel (Triple-A): 1-for-2, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

• SS Colin Houck (High-A): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI

• RHP Robert Stock (High-A): 3.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

• LF Jackson Hauge (Single-A): 1-for-3, 1 HR 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB

BOX SCORES

Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (40-55) vs. Red Sox (44-48)

Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.68 ERA) vs. TBD

When: 4:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY | FS1

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Some praise for Brett Baty, and concerns with Francisco Lindor ✍️

Robert Sabo - NY Post

The 2026 New York Mets just can’t get out of their own way, can they?

After teasing us during the series win over the Royals that the offense was finally starting to click, we were back to the same old story on Friday night.

For all the pre-game talk about the Red Sox arriving in town late, it was the Mets who looked unprepared. Juan Soto set the tone for the night with a sloppy error in the first inning. The offense offered basically nothing. And the bullpen again struggled. All of that led to yet another frustrating, typical Mets loss in a season full of dumbfounding, demoralizing losses.

However, rather than pick the bones from last night, I want to instead focus on the contrasting fortunes of two players:

Brett Baty and Francisco Lindor.

Let’s start with Baty.

The utility player is in the middle of the best stretch of his career right now, having extended his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games on Friday night. It is the longest-such streak of his career.

Baty was the only real producer for the offense in the series opener against Boston, going 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and a RBI. He has credited his recent success to doing a lot more work on his approach and being proactive in game planning. Furthermore, Baty is now focusing on being less passive at the plate, instead going all-out attack.

And it is certainly working, at least for now.

We’ve seen some really consistent results from Baty over this hitting streak, and we’re seeing once again how productive a player he can be once he settles into a groove. Of course, we’ve been here before. Baty has gotten hot only to go into prolonged slumps. Therefore, it is probably wise not to get too carried away by this recent run of good results at the plate.

With that said, Baty is still only 26 years old and maybe his change in approach could be key to unlocking some much-needed consistency at the plate. Regardless, he certainly offers more as a player than somebody like Mark Vientos and, personally, I would give Baty plenty of playing time the rest of the way in 2026 to see if he does indeed have a long-time future in Queens.

The talent is certainly there, as we are seeing right now, which is why it has always been hard to ever truly give up on Baty. There is clearly something there, but whether we will ever see it more than just in bunches is the million-dollar question.

Now let’s talk about Lindor.

Jason Szenes - NY Post

It has been a rough season for the shortstop, one ravaged and wrecked by injuries. Now back, he has yet to really get going and is hitting just .200/.286/.200 with four strikeouts over his last seven games.

What also hasn’t helped is all the speculation, which has seemingly ramped up over the last couple of weeks. Lindor has found himself the subject of trade speculation, mainly driven by his much-talked-about relationship, or lack of one, with Soto. However, due to the fact that Lindor has full veto power, as reported by Jon Heyman of the NY Post, it is incredibly unlikely that a trade would happen this season or beyond.

And, Mets owner Steve Cohen is on record saying the Mets are unlikely to move Lindor this summer. It is also hard to imagine any team giving up anything significant for an aging shortstop who is owed over $174 million through 2031.

And therein lies the rub.

Is there a bigger concern with Lindor at play here? We know he is prone to slow starts, and maybe he’s just finding it tough to get going after missing so much time. That is certainly possible.

With that said, watch Lindor and it is hard to ignore the possibility that he’s suffering from natural regression. He has been prone to mental lapses on the defensive side of the ball both before and after getting hurt this season, while a lot of his at-bats since coming back have looked non-competitive.

We see the same thing with shortstops of a similar age all of the time. Look at Corey Seager in Texas. Even Trea Turner has taken a step back in certain areas.

Lindor was always going to decline the longer he got into his contract with the Mets, and maybe we are seeing the start of that now. Or maybe he is just having a bad year due to injuries and all the speculation away from the field.

NY Post

Either way, I still think Lindor has a lot of value as a Met, and I am fully expecting a bounce-back year from him in 2027 (if we have a baseball season to look forward to). I wouldn’t even be shocked if he gets hot after the All-Star break. And maybe Lindor would benefit from a clear-the-air kind of meeting with ownership and the front office over the All-Star break, to at least remind him how valuable he is to this team.

All in all, I wouldn’t overreact to Baty’s hot streak or Lindor’s pronounced struggles just yet. I think both situations are worth keeping an eye on over the next couple of months, especially.

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Around the League 🚩

• The Cardinals and rookie infielder JJ Wetherholt agreed to an eight-year, $112.5 million extension (MLB.com)

• The Pirates traded the 34th overall pick to the White Sox for LHP Brandon Eisert and INF Jacob Gonzalez (MLB.com)

• Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber and White Sox 1B Munetaka Murakami were the last names added to what is an intriguing field in the MLB 2026 Home Run Derby

• DH Shohei Ohtani, who will miss the All-Star Game due to knee inflammation, skipped his start on Friday but still managed to launch his 21st homer of the season in LA’s 9-3 loss to Arizona

• White Sox OF Tristan Peters hit for the cycle, including getting two hits in the same inning, in a 14-1 thumping of the A’s

• Blue Jays 3B Kazuma Okamoto tied Shohei Ohtani for the most home runs by a Japanese-born player in their rookie season after launching his 22nd in a 5-3 win over the Padres