It's all right there for the Mets, if they want it!
The Mets finished their road trip 4-6, 1/2 game out of a wild card thanks to being uncompetitively swept in Seattle this past weekend
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were swept out of Seattle with an embarrassing 12-1 loss to the Mariners on Sunday night (box)
Luis Severino offered up his second straight subpar start, allowing four runs and three home runs in five innings
The Mets bullpen imploded from there - Ryne Stanek and Adam Ottavino combined to allow six runs in the sixth inning and Danny Young allowed two runs in the seventh inning
The Mets offense mustered their first and only run in the entire weekend on Sunday on a Jeff McNeil solo home runs in the sixth inning
The Mets did have their chances to score. They had ten baserunners on the night but went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, stranding all but one of them
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets remained behind the Atlanta Braves by a half-game, are 4 games behind the Diamondbacks, and 4 games back of the Padres. The Cardinals and Giants remained a game behind the Mets.
There are 44 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 27.9 percent chance of making the postseason.
New York has the 13th easiest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. STL: 4-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
Who’s not hot… 🥶
RHP Luis Severino has a 9.69 ERA in his last three starts, having allowed five home runs in 13 IP during that span. Opponents have a 1.124 OPS against him in those 3 starts
Injury Updates 🏥
OF Starling Marte (bone bruise in knee) went 0-for-2 with a walk for Double-A Binghamton on Sunday. He could return to the Mets this weekend on their homestand
INF Mark Vientos was scratched from Sunday’s lineup with ankle soreness. He is day-to-day.
RHP Sean Reid-Foley (shoulder impingement) had his rehab outing on Sunday postponed due to rain. He is now scheduled for a multi-inning relief appearance on Tuesday
RHP Dedniel Núñez (right pronator strain) threw off a mound on Sunday and will throw another bullpen session on Tuesday
RHP Christian Scott (right UCL sprain) is expected to begin a throwing program this week as he continues treatment and strengthening of his arm
Roster Moves 📰
Signed RHP Vinny Nittoli to minor league contract, assigned him to Triple-A Syracuse
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Jackie Bradley, Jr. (Triple-A): 1-for-2, 3B, 2 RBI
RHP Luis Moreno (Double-A): 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 6 K
RHP Dakota Hawkins (HIgh-A): 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 K
INF Junior Tillen (High-A): 2-for-6, HR, 2 RBI (doubleheader)
DH Ronald Hernandez (Low-A): 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK G1 G2 | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
The Mets are off today. They open a three-game series with the A’s at Citi Field on Tuesday.
Mets, since the All-Star break… 😞
Team OPS: .717 (18th best in MLB)
Team AVG: .245 (17th best in MLB)
Team OBP: .317 (16th best in MLB)
105 wRC+ (16th best in MLB)
26 home runs (22nd in MLB)
.212 average with RISP (26th in MLB)
.108 average with 2 outs, RISP (30th in MLB)
It’s all right there for the Mets, if they want it… ✍️
The Mets scored one run in 27 innings in Seattle this weekend.
That’s pretty much all you need to know if you didn’t watch a single pitch in these three miserable games this past weekend.
Like, it was a total no-show effort on the part of the Mets. The plane left Denver on Thursday evening for Seattle but the Mets clearly weren’t on it.
Seriously, that was one of the worst showings I’ve seen from this club in a very long time, especially during a meaningful part of their schedule.
If you look at the box score, you’ll see a third straight sub-par performance from Luis Severino, who probably wishes he had stayed in New York before they left for this ridiculous ten-game road trip.
What the box score won’t tell you is that before Cal Raleigh hit one of his two homers on the night, Francisco Lindor couldn’t field a slow roller from Randy Arozarena with two outs which would’ve unquestionably ended the inning and at least kept the score at 1-0.
Instead, kaboom!
For Severino specifically, he made his out pitch there but obviously didn’t after that. He has now given up five home runs in his last three starts, a span of 13 innings. He is being clubbed, no doubt about it. It’s time to wonder how much Severino has left in the tank until he proves otherwise at 133.2 IP, the most he’s thrown since 2018.
It’s also why I think the Mets needed to procure more starting pitching than they did in Paul Blackburn who, to be fair, has been great in his first two starts.
As far as the Mets offense is concerned, I don’t know what to say to be honest. We knew coming into the weekend they’d have an uphill battle against the Mariners starting pitching which is probably the best in the sport overall. But again, they scored one run the entire weekend.
That isn’t lackluster, that isn’t disappointing, it isn’t even maddening.
That’s non-competitive.
The at-bats were just terrible, the approach was just terrible. They were uncreative, seemed uninspired to try and manufacture runs.
Look - we all knew coming in how difficult this road trip was. Anaheim to St. Louis to Denver to Seattle. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. It was stupid to play that makeup game on a scheduled day off in-between series for an east coast team out west. That’s not an excuse or a reason they stunk in Seattle. But it does take a toll on people, their ability to find needed rest and reboot the brain a little. The Mets didn’t get to sleep a lot on this trip and that’s not what any athlete needs.
And they’ll just have to do it again next week.
In the end though, this is a pennant race. They’re fortunate to still be right there, just 1/2 game out of a playoff spot. They need to play better. They need to hit better, and they’re going to have to find a way to get more competitive innings from Severino and much of the rest of the rotation.
As Aaron Boone would likely say, it’s all right there in front of them for the taking. There’s still plenty of time, plenty of schedule, plenty of opportunities to right the offense which hasn’t been able to get out of its own way for 3 weeks since the break in large measure.
Perhaps this past weekend in Seattle was the nadir for them in the second half.
They have a soft spot in the schedule again, this time against the A’s this week followed by the Marlins, who have been a pesky pain in their collective asses all year long. But it doesn’t matter. The Mets need to start to soak up wins against the second division teams again, and they have a six-game opportunity to right their ship before having to deal with Baltimore, San Diego and Arizona over a ten-game span in ten days.
Today is their only off-day over the next two weeks too.
Again, it’s all right there in front of them. If they want it.
Around the League 🚩
The Dodgers swept the Pirates with a 6-5 win at Dodger Stadium, knocking Pittsburgh five games out of the wild card with their seventh loss in a row
The Rockies were down six runs in the eighth, but rallied past the Braves for a 9-8 win at Coors Field
The Diamondbacks won their final three games against the Phillies with a 12-5 win on Sunday to take their four-game set with Philadelphia
The Marlins staved off another late rally from the Padres, edging them 7-6 in Miami
Unfortunately that 10 games against good teams will likely be their mercy killing. For me, I still have mixed feelings watching dreadful baseball by multiple dreadful teams to get in playoffs through the losers bracket. Would I feel better if-under the old format-I was watching a non-competitive team playing its youngsters? My expectations would be different, my emotions very different. Had the fan base been resigned to non-playoff status, would you have such mercurial reactions against the reality of the type of play such flawed teams present?
Does anyone at Just Mets read these comments? Hello?
The runs given up over the weekend is as bad as the pathetic offense though they had help from bad play and leaving one pitcher in too long. Seattle is not a good hitting ball club.
The statistical chances of a playoff berth are dropping quickly. The Snakes and Padres are on fire & it was almost shocking when the Padres didn't really come back AGAIN yesterday. It's hard to see how the Mets overtake though it's possible. The path is the Braves.
Combine some tough games ahead and the fact the Braves probably aren't THIS bad, the Mets had to win a few more games in the second half than they did. It's tough now.