What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost a nail biter to the White Sox on Sunday by a score of 2-1 (box)
The game was scoreless into the eighth inning until Andrew Benintendi doubled in Miguel Vargas, but then 1B Jared Young singled in the tying run in the top of the ninth against Grant Taylor to tie the game. But RHP Kodai Senga - working a second day in a row - allowed a walk-off homer to Tristan Peters to end it
RHP Nolan McLean twirled six scoreless innings but took a no-decision - his ERA is now 3.21 for the year
SS Francisco Lindor and OF Carson Benge each turned in multi-hit games
Play of the Game 😢
The offense in Sunday’s game didn’t get going until the eighth inning on Sunday, but it was Tristan Peters’ game-winning home run off the glove of AJ Ewing— the second home run he hit this weekend that went off the glove of a Met outfielder and the second walk off home run against the Mets in this series— to send the Mets home losers of 2 of 3 on the South Side this past weekend.
Who’s Hot 🔥
Over his last 23 games, OF Carson Benge is hitting .360/.400/.596 with four doubles, a triple, five home runs with 13 RBI, 32 hits and 14 runs scored
Over his last 32 games, 3B Bo Bichette is hitting .310/.357/.473 with seven doubles, a triple, four home runs with 15 RBI, 40 hits and 16 runs scored
Over his last 15 games, OF Luis Robert Jr. is hitting .326/.377/.674 with a double, five home runs with 10 RBI, 15 hits and eight runs scored
Over his last 10 starts, RHP Nolan McLean has a 1.97 ERA, having allowed 46 hits against 24 walks with 62 strikeouts over 59.1 IP during that span
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the latest midweek edition of The Just Mets Podcast, Andrew and Rich recap a .500 week for the Mets as they came back down to reality this past weekend in Chicago.
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Down on the Farm 🌾
OF D’Andre Smith (AAA): 1-for-2, HR, 2 RBI
INF Mitch Voit (no. 4 prospect, AA): 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 R
1B Eddinson Paulino (High-A): 1-for-3, HR (GS), 2 BB, 2 R
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
The Mets are off on Monday. They open a three-game series with the Brewers on Tuesday night at Citi Field.
Notes on the NL ROY race, Bo, and the pitching gaps for the Mets ✍🏻
One thing that is certain for the Mets is they’ve got a ways to go to catch up to the White Sox, which seems impossible considering where their franchise was less than two years ago. Having said that, it seems impossible the Mets are where they are less than two years removed from a run through the National League Championship Series.
But the good news is, if the White Sox are any indication, the tide can turn very quickly for the Mets, and despite a series loss on the south side this weekend and some tough luck that went against the Mets, especially that last play which would’ve been an out in about half the ballparks around the league, there was a lot to like (and dislike, to be fair) about how the Mets played in Chicago. This was a fun series, two nail biting games, and despite losing two out of three, a very enjoyable series to watch.
I’ll talk about the good stuff first, because that’s more fun.
NL rookie of the year race is tightening
We’ve talked a lot about Carson Benge’s ascent over the last month or so, and rightfully so. He continues to hit, he continues to play elite defense, and just generally speaking, he continues to get better and demonstrate he isn’t even close to reaching his ceiling. He’s going to cool off for sure - they all do even if we want him to bat 1.000 down the stretch and run away with the National League Rookie of the Year award - and that will be the true test to see if he can make adjustments and continue to mature.
But, there’s also Nolan McLean, who has indisputably been the best rookie pitcher in the National League this season, and he continued his ascent in the race with another stellar performance on Sunday against an excellent Chicago lineup. The question for McLean is whether or not what he’s done since his inconsistent first couple of months of the year would be enough to overtake either Benge or JJ Wetherholt in the race.
McLean had a 4.01 ERA through his first 14 starts on June 12. But, he has a 2.36 ERA in 12 starts since with maybe five starts remaining on the year. He does have a 3.54 FIP during that span which indicates there’s a lot of luck on his side (Look no further than Luis Robert Jr. saving at least an extra base hit against him on Sunday, if not a home run). That isn’t to take away from McLean’s performance overall, but when it comes to voting for the NL ROY award, everything is on the table for the league’s most prestigious consideration. Between that and his inconsistencies over the first couple of months of the year, he probably needs to be even better the rest of the way.
On this date anyway, I’d say Benge has a better shot than McLean, who has some work to do himself to catch Wetherholt from an fWAR perspective anyway.
Even so, that the Mets have two players who are ROY candidates is pretty good considering the season is in the tank. And both have unquestionably closed the gap on Wetherholt in this race over the last couple of months.
What to make of Bo Bichette
There’s no question the Mets have gotten their money’s worth from Bo Bichette over the last 84 games (.297/.340/.467). But he was so bad through May 17 that he is still putting up a below-average season with a 97 OPS+.
So the question is, will he opt out of the remaining two years and $84 million of his contract? Honestly, I hope he doesn’t, not so much because I think he’s had a good overall season, but 1) he’s been outstanding since mid-May and there’s every reason to believe he will look like himself going forward, and 2) the Mets have enough problems to fix on this roster heading into uncertain economic times in 2027 - Bichette departing would only add to those issues.
Also, given his overall performance, Bichette might be hard-pressed to get the kind of deal he’s looking for, even if it’s a long-term deal for less AAV than he’s going to get if he stays with the Mets for the entire three-year term.
Let’s just say for the sake of the argument that Bichette finishes the year with an OPS+ of around 100. That is league average, and while there’s no reason to think he won’t do that considering where he is and the upward trend he’s been on for the last three months, he is not earning league-average money from the Mets at $42 million per. And even if he takes a chance and goes for a longer-term deal for less AAV, can he make the same $84 million over, say, three years right now, especially with the collective bargaining agreement expiring and every indication that payroll structures will somehow have to change during that span coming off a 100-ish OPS?
My guess is it’s close at best and probably not worth the risk today. If he has a big year in 2027, then the discussion could change, but for now, I’d expect him to stay through at least next year.
Now, I know talk is cheap in sports, but he has said he loves it here, he has said he wants to be a part of the solution going forward too. It could be lip service, but if you’re a fan of Bichette staying, then take that for what it means for now.
The pitching gaps
One thing this series revealed for the Mets are just how many pitching gaps they have to fill this winter.
I think Sean Manaea has been great recently, and I think he has earned his keep for 2027 and to play out the remainder of his contract. He’s a good clubhouse presence too. But I think even the best version of Manaea at this point in his career is limited, which is fine as long as he’s a back-end starter for this team going forward.
The Mets also need to polish up the development of Christian Scott, who at times can be lights out but when he doesn’t have it or is at the end of the line, he hasn’t figured out how to be nails out there yet. To be fair, he’s coming off Tommy John Surgery, so that’s a part of the challenge to be more consistent. But, he’s also young and missed almost two years of Major League development time due to the elbow injury.
That’s not to take anything away from Scott. Again, he’s young, and he is absolutely a part of the solution here along with McLean and Zac Thornton. There’s just work to do and it just furthers the need for the Mets to find a top-shelf, veteran ace to take this rotation to the next level.
Then there is Kodai Senga, who unquestionably has two great pitches which can make him an effective reliever, but as Sunday showed, he has yet to figure out how to be effective on back-to-back days. His fastball velocity was down, his location wasn’t any good, and the White Sox made him pay for all of that when Tristan Peters walked him off in the ninth.
I know the Mets have been looking at Senga as a closer in the absence of Devin Williams. But, there’s a long way to go here generally speaking despite him doing well over the first couple of weeks in this role. Being able to pitch on back-to-back days is a big deal for a reliever whether Senga is the closer or not, and we are talking about a guy who might not be happy in this role and had adaptability problems to the life of a big league starter over the first three years of his contract. So, we will see how this experiment evolves over the final month of the season.
But, as I said during the winter, the Mets probably need to find a closer and bump both Senga and Williams back into setup roles.
Now, there’s an argument to be made that he shouldn’t have pitched at all with a big lead on Saturday. But remember - the Mets are no where close to the race, they’re evaluating everything as they head into the off-season, and getting Senga the work plus seeing how he responds on back-to-back days is a part of it. For me personally, I have no problems with the Mets testing him like this, even if it wasn’t necessary to throw him on Saturday.
If the Mets were in a race, he wouldn’t have pitched on Saturday and that is that.
Around the League 🚩
The Phillies rallied down four in the ninth to walk-off the Cardinals 6-4 for their ninth win in a row - they are now just three games behind the Braves for first place in the NL East, who beat the Brewers 4-2 at the Little League Classic in Williamsport, PA
The Red Sox got seven strong innings from Jake Bennett and edged the Giants 5-4
The Rangers tied the Astros for first place in the AL West with a 5-3 win over the Angels - Houston blew a 6-0 lead to the A’s and were edged 7-6
The Cubs got 5 RBI days from Ian Happ and Pedro Ramirez has part of their 19-2 romp of the Mariners