It's deGrom rehab day, and the Mets offense has gone cool for the summer

Jacob deGrom makes his first rehab start in Port St. Lucie today. Plus, the Mets offense is ice cold as their NL East lead shrinks.

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾

• The Mets lost to the Rangers by a score of 7-3 on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field (box)

• RHP Trevor Williams struggled in what will likely be his last spot start, allowing five earned runs in 3.2 innings pitched

• OF Starling Marte and 3B Eduardo Escobar accounted for the Mets’ only runs of the games with a pair of home runs

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

• New York is averaging two runs per game over their last five contests

• RHP Edwin Díaz won the Reliever of the Month award for June in the National League

• Top prospect Francisco Álvarez is getting called up to Triple-A Syracuse (NY Post)

• The Mets’ lead in the NL East is down to 2.5 games, the lowest it’s been since April 30th

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Injury Updates 🏥

• RHP Jacob deGrom (stress reaction in right scapula) will make his first rehab start today for Low-A in Port St. Lucie

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Who’s Hot 🔥

• Eduardo Escobar has homered in the first two games of this series, making it the first time all season that he’s hit a home run in back-to-back games

• Since allowing five runs in Colorado on May 21st, Adonis Medina has allowed just two runs over his last 10.1 innings pitched, good for a 1.74 ERA (with a save) in that time span

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (48-30) vs. Rangers (37-39)

Where: Citi Field — Flushing, New York

Starters: RHP Carlos Carrasco (8-4, 4.85 ERA) vs RHP Jon Gray (4-3, 3.89 ERA)

When: 1:40 PM EST

Where to Watch: SNY

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The Mets offense has gone cool for the summer 📝

Well, this isn’t exactly ideal.

Despite playing mostly .500 ball over the last month-plus — maintaining as they' faced numerous key injuries to their club at the same time they faced the most difficult part of their schedule — the Mets have still managed to lose eight games off of their lead in the National League East. After yesterday’s loss and another Braves win, New York’s lead is down to just 2.5 games. It’s the smallest margin in the NL East since April 30th.

While most of that has been due to the pitching and who has, and mostly who has not, been available to make starts (Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Tylor Megill have all been on the IL in case you didn’t know), a big part of that has been the club’s offense or lately… lack thereof.

After falling to the Rangers by a 7-3 score on Saturday afternoon, the Mets failed to score more than three runs for the fourth time in their last five games and eighth time in their last 12. Over their last five games, specifically, New York is averaging just two runs per game.

Another big issue for this club has been with runners in scoring position. What had been such a monstrous strength for the Mets offense — their .290 batting average with RISP was good for second-best in baseball and tops in the National League on June 11th — has gone completely in the tank over the last several weeks. Since June 12th, spanning their last 17 games, the Mets are hitting just .194 with runners in scoring position which ranks as the third-worst mark in the entire league.

Making matters worse? In that same time span, the Mets have hit 17 home runs, which is tied for 23rd in baseball.

So, essentially, the Mets’ biggest strength on offense has cooled down an exorbitant amount while their biggest weakness (power) has stayed the same. That isn’t exactly a good equation here for the Mets as their division lead continues to minimize day-after-day.

Top prospect Francisco Álvarez is getting the call-up to Triple-A, making him a possibility to make a Michael Conforto-type impact at the big league level at some point during the 2022 season, but it’s hard to count on rookies (especially ones so young) to turn your lineup around. What it’s really going to come down to is can certain struggling players on offense turn their seasons around and who will be brought in at the trade deadline?

While he is no longer the slugger he once was — he’s slugging just .428 over the last two seasons — Orioles 1B/DH Trey Mancini could be a target for this club. Other potential targets could include Nationals 1B Josh Bell (who’s slugging .504 on the season with 11 home runs and a 160 OPS+) and Athletics catcher Sean Murphy if they deem it too early to call up Álvarez.

Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how things shake out over the next several weeks. In terms of trades, there are still likely no reinforcements on the immediate horizon with so many teams thinking they’re still in it with the extra postseason spot. Until then, the Mets are going to have to rely on players like Francisco Lindor, Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil to get hot, and maybe just maybe hopefully get something out of their catcher for once, specifically James McCann who is back from the injured list.

If things don’t improve on their own and soon, things may get even hairier before the trade deadline.

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• Jose Butto (RHP, No. 12 prospect, Double-A): 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K (win)

• Brett Baty (3B, No. 2 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-4, HR (10), 3 RBI

• William Lugo (3B, Low-A): 3-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI

Box Scores: Triple-A | Double-A | Single-A | Low-A

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Around the League 🚩

• The Cardinals hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back (that’s four!) home runs in a row in their 7-6 win over the Phillies

• The Yankees swept their doubleheader from the Cleveland Guardians

• The Dodgers offense smacked Padres RHP Yu Darvish around early in their 7-2 victory

• LA expects to activate OF Mookie Betts off the injured list later today

• The Astros stayed red hot, defeating the Angels 9-1 for their 5th straight win and 10th win in their last 12 games