Owning the fatal flaw that is the Mets starting rotation
Also - the Mets won big in Cincinnati and tease once again what could have been
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets avoided the sweep in Cincinnati after cruising to a 9-1 win over the Reds in the series finale on Wednesday afternoon (box)
RHP Nolan McLean put together his best outing in weeks, allowing just one unearned run on three hits over seven dominant innings with one walk and nine strikeouts
LHP Brooks Raley and RHP Austin Warren combined for two scoreless innings with just one walk and two hits allowed to help close out the win
3B Bo Bichette and LF Juan Soto each had three hits to lead a big day for the offense, combining for five runs and three RBI and DH Francisco Álvarez also had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-5 with an RBI single and a run scored
1B Mark Vientos continued a strong series by hitting an RBI single in the third inning, before plating another run on a sac fly in the fifth and 2B Marcus Semien finished 2-for-4 with a run scored, one RBI, and one walk, while OF A.J. Ewing added some insurance runs with a two-run double in the fifth
The Mets were much better with runners in scoring position, finishing 7-for-13, although they did leave eight runners stranded on base
Play of the Game ⭐️
Given the amount of runs scored by the Mets on Wednesday, it would have been too easy to go offense for today’s POTG.
Instead, I want to focus on the defensive side of the ball.
In the bottom of the third with the bases loaded and just one out, the Reds had an opportunity to get right back into the game. They did put a run on the board, but it could have been a whole lot worse were it not for yet another stellar defensive play by A.J. Ewing.
The rookie executed his read and timing to perfection, laying out to rob JJ Bleday of extra bases. One run did score on the sac fly, but Ewing’s prowess in the field saved two runs and set the tone for the rest of the game with the Mets going on to blow the game open in the fifth inning.
Ewing is proving with every game that he has the skillset needed to be the future anchor of the outfield for the Mets.
Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
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Who’s Hot 🔥
Over his last seven games, INF Bo Bichette is hitting .500/.500/.900/.1.400 with three doubles, three homers, 15 hits, 10 RBIs, and nine runs scored
Over his last seven games, OF Juan Soto is hitting .480/.581/.840/.1.421 with three doubles, two homers, six walks, 12 hits, six RBIs, and six runs scored
Over his last four games, INF Mark Vientos is hitting .333/.308/.583/.891 with five RBIs and one run scored
Over his last seven games, C Francisco Alvarez is hitting .320/.370/.440/.810 with eight hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Nick Morabito (No. 11 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 2B, 1 SB
DH Nick Lorusso (Double-A): 2-for-4, 2 RBIs, 1 2B
SS Elian Peña (No. 7 prospect, Single-A): 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B
3B Antonio Jimenez (No. 15 prospect, Single-A): 1-for-4, 1 R, 3 RBIs, 1 BB, 1 HR
RHP Emilio Obispo (Single-A): 5 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (33-41) at Phillies (40-34)
Where: Citizens Bank Park - Philadelphia, PA
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (1-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (3-4, 5.86 ERA)
When: 6:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY | MLB Network
Perhaps it’s David Stearns’ turn for the hot seat ✍️
Man, the 2026 New York Mets will go down as one of the most frustrating teams to watch in history.
And I don’t think that is being hyperbolic at all.
After teasing us by winning two out of three against a very good Braves team, normal service was resumed when the Mets dropped the first two games of the road trip to the Reds. And they didn’t just lose, they got the absolute tar beaten out of them, including an all-time humiliating effort on Monday night.
However, fast forward to Wednesday, and we were treated to a break in the embarrassment, as it all clicked for the Mets in a dominating win to salvage their series against the Reds.
Nolan McLean looked superb and as good as he has all year, absolutely dismantling the Reds lineup with cool ease. The lineup was clutch and efficient, led by the red-hot duo of Bo Bichette and Juan Soto. Francisco Álvarez has looked locked in since returning from the IL. A.J. Ewing continues to look like a real impact player both offensively and defensively. And even Mark Vientos showed some signs of life, although he also displayed his downside with yet more questionable defense.
With all that said, I don’t really want to get into whether or not one win means the Mets can save their season because we’ve fallen into that trap before. It doesn’t, for sure.
At this point, this team is nothing more than one big tease and, based on everything we’ve seen so far, it will probably take a very large miracle for anything remotely good to come out of this miserable, frustrating year.
In order to salvage anything from this season, the Mets will need to go on several long winning streaks, and I just can’t see that happening. But, again, we’ve wasted way too many words on that topic already, and I don’t want to get sucked into the same pointless conversation today.
What I do want to focus on, though, is David Stearns’ inability to learn from his past mistakes when it comes to starting pitching, and why that is particularly vexing after what we witnessed yesterday.
A huge reason why this team has been so bad and inconsistent this year has been the starting pitching. Yes, the offense has been a massive fatal flaw, but you can’t win without pitching, and the rotation being a mess again is what is sinking this team right now. I mean, we saw yesterday what the blueprint is for this team to succeed: a dominant performance on the mound backed up by an efficient offense led by a potent top of the order.
Yet, sadly, we’ve seen way more clunkers on the mound than we’ve seen stellar starts so far this year. Clay Holmes emerged as this team’s most consistent and brilliant arm before going down hurt, yet the rest of the rotation has been a massive dud.
And that responsibility falls directly on Stearns.
He knew the rotation needed a massive renovation after the debacle of last year. He knew that he needed to deviate from his philosophy in order to find success in a big market. And he knew he had to make pitching a real priority in order to ensure this team bounced back in 2026.
Did he do any of those things?
I think you all know the answer to that.
Yes, Stearns did do a good job by going out and acquiring Freddy Peralta from the Brewers, while also getting Tobias Myers in the deal too. We all applauded the trade at the time, and it isn’t Stearns’ fault that Peralta hasn’t lived up to expectations or gone deep in games.
However, it is on Stearns that Myers was sent down to the minors to be stretched out as a starter, only for that not to happen, leading to the righty getting absolutely shelled as an opener on Monday night, eradicating all the momentum gained from the series win over the Braves.
More importantly, it is very much Stearns’ fault that he didn’t go out and acquire or sign another legitimate starter in the offseason, despite the fact that it was crystal clear for literally everybody to see that the Mets were in desperate need of at least two high-end and reliable arms for that rotation.
Instead, Stearns settled for just Peralta and decided to stand pat with a bunch of question marks. Stearns knew that Kodai Senga was probably a bust at this point. He even said at the beginning of the last off-season the Mets couldn’t count on him to be a meaningful part of their rotation. He knew that there were real problems with Sean Manaea’s velocity and overall consistency after an injury-plagued 2025 season. And he also knew that David Peterson couldn’t be totally depended on after falling off a cliff following last year’s All-Star Game.
And, yet, despite being armed with all of that information, Stearns opted not to do nearly enough and stick with the same formula that doomed this team in 2025.
As such, we probably shouldn’t be surprised that we’re seeing the same results unfold right in front of our eyes this season.
After all, leaning heavily on openers and bulk relievers just isn’t a sustainable strategy over a 162-game season, especially when you are trying to compete for a championship.
Stearns’ failings to bolster the rotation have only heaped more pressure on the likes of Peralta and McLean, and maybe an argument can be made that McLean’s inconsistency this year is due to the fact that he was expected to be the guy for this team in just his second year. Maybe the pressure to pitch like a true ace in every single outing so early in his career got to McLean a little bit? There’s obviously no way to prove that definitively, but there’s also no definitive evidence to suggest that hasn’t been a factor.
In any case, Stearns set this team up to fail because of his inability to address what was a very clear weakness from the year before. Of course, Stearns also butchered the offense, jettisoning Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil and replacing them with subpar offensive players and pieces that simply didn’t fit, although Bo Bichette is starting to settle into a groove now.
As bad as the lineup construction was, though, more egregious is the starting rotation given that Stearns clearly failed to learn from his past mistakes. And that’s a far bigger sin in my calculations.
Plus, why should Stearns be trusted to get things right next year when he’s shown an unwillingness to adjust, adapt, and move away from what worked for him in Milwaukee but clearly hasn’t worked in a big market?
What’s that old saying? Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Ultimately, the Mets are so damn inconsistent because the entire roster is flawed, and the starting pitching in particular has been an unmitigated disaster yet again thanks to Stearns. And it is about time he is actually held accountable for that abject failure, especially when we saw what this team is actually capable of on Wednesday when the pitching and the offense clicked at the same time.
I couldn’t help but think about all the what ifs while watching this team dominate yesterday, and I also couldn’t help but wonder if the time is now for Stearns to be put on the hot seat.
He can’t be allowed to repeat the sins from his past a third time, can he?
Around the League 🚩
According to reports, MLB will abandon the timer and move back to a swing format for the Home Run Derby (The Athletic)
NBA Champions Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart threw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium as the Yankees beat the White Sox, 10-5
1B Freddie Freeman hit the go-ahead home run to help lead the Dodgers to a 5-4 win over the Rays
OF Pete Crow-Armstrong homered for the third straight game to lift the Cubs to a 8-6 win over the Rockies
1B Kyle Stowers hit a pair of homers and finished with five RBIs as the Marlins beat the Phillies, 12-4
Pirates OF Ryan O’Hearn finished with a double, a home run, and six RBIs in a 12-4 dismantling of the A’s