So, why is the Mets offense suddenly clicking?

The Mets are crushing it at the plate lately, which is the main reason the Mets beat the Phillies on Monday night...

Image courtesy of the New York Mets

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets came from behind to beat the Phillies 13-3 on Monday night at Citi Field (box)

• RHP Kodai Senga fell behind 3-0 and was lifted in the fifth inning, but the Mets scored 13 unanswered runs against Cristopher Sánchez and the Phillies bullpen, and the Mets bullpen held the Phillies scoreless over the game’s final five innings

• C Luis Torrens highlighted the offense, matching a career-high with five RBI including a three-run home run

• OF Tyrone Taylor and 3B Mark Vientos continued their upswing at the plate - Vientos had two doubles and Taylor had three hits

• 2B Jeff McNeil also had a big night with two singles and three RBI

• The Mets 6-9 in the order went 9-for-17 with 10 RBI on the night, and the Mets as a team went 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position while scoring eight runs with two outs

• Last night’s game featured a 19-minute delay after Phillies 3B Alec Bohm complained about parabolic microphones in the batter’s eye

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Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Reed Garrett placed on the 15-Day Injured List (retroactive to 8/23) with right elbow inflammation. There is no ligament damage in his elbow

• LHP Jose Castillo selected to the Major League roster

• RHP Frankie Montas (right elbow UCL injury) transferred to the 60-day injured list

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Injury Updates 🏥

• Francisco Álvarez (thumb sprain) resumed batting practice this week and could begin a rehab assignment midweek

• Tylor Megill (elbow inflammation) will make what is likely his rehab appearance on Thursday for Triple-A Syracuse

• José Siri (fractured tibia) will begin a rehab assignment today, and will need an extended rehab after missing four months

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The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️

Listen to this week’s Just Mets Podcast as Rich MacLeod is joined by super fan and YouTuber Tyler Ward, host of the WardyNYM show. They react to the Mets disappointing road trip and the road ahead as they look to make a dent in the race to win the NL East…

Listen and subscribe now!

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Playoff Race 🏁

With their win over the Phillies, the Mets closed to within six games of Philadelphia for first place in the NL East:

Meanwhile, the Dodgers shutout the Reds, which allowed the Mets to increase their lead to 2.5 games over Cincinnati for the third wild card spot:

Per FanGraphs, the Mets have an 91.2% chance of making the 2025 playoffs with the 17th hardest schedule through the end of the season:

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Who’s Hot? 🥵

• Mark Vientos extended his hitting streak to eight games and he is hitting .387 (12-for-31) over that span. During that span, he has 13 RBI and nine extra-base hits (4 2B and 5 HR) which are both the most of his career in an eight-game span

• Jeff McNeil has reached base safely in eight of his last nine games and he is batting .382 (13-34) with a 1.156 OPS over that span

• Over his last 21 games dating back to July 2, Starling Marte is hitting .386/.430/.643 with six doubles, four home runs and eight RBI with 27 hits and eight runs scored

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Stats of the Day 📊

• Mets batters recorded 11 hits with runners in scoring position on Monday - It’s their most such hits in a game since their 12 hits with RISP on May 3, 2017 vs. Atlanta

• Their .351 batting average with RISP this month is the best in the NL and the second-best in the majors, trailing only Toronto (.360)

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Play of the Game ⭐️

There was a lot of offense from the Mets on Monday night, but the play of the game came from Cristopher Sánchez when he caught a spike and tripped off the mound with two outs and Pete Alonso on first. That appeared to unravel Sánchez as the Mets would go on to score three runs in the frame, tie the game up at 3-3 and zoom off with an offensive barrage…

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Down on the Farm 🌾

All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.

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Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (70-61) vs Phillies (76-55)

Where: Citi Field -Flushing, NY

Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.15 ERA) vs. LHP Jesus Luzardo (12-6, 4.10 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Its all about the fastball, and pitching better… ✍️

Image courtesy of the New York Mets

Well, if the Mets are going to get back into this race in the NL East, they arguably showed the most encouraging signs they’re going to show as part of that potential resurgence on Monday night.

Of course, they got no help from Kodai Senga as part of that process, but the bullpen showed up and the offense - which has been generally relentless during August - ensured the club could bury another poor showing from one of their starting pitchers.

Sure, the Mets got a big night from Luis Torrens, who had the night of his life at the plate. And yes, Francisco Lindor has had an incredible month even though he saw his 12-game hitting streak end last night. But the glue to the Mets offense this month has indisputably been Mark Vientos who has found himself again after being just terribly lost over the season’s first four months and the rest of the offense seems to have followed suit.

So, why has Vientos all of a sudden looked like 2024 Vientos?

New York Post

I think it’s actually quite simple, as it is for the rest of the Mets offense. They’re hitting fastballs, something they were struggling so badly to do through July, for whatever reason.

I don’t need to provide any stats on this - it’s something you can see. Don’t you remember how many fastballs down the middle the Mets were either taking or swinging at missing out before? I can’t tell you how many times I commented on Brandon Nimmo taking hittable strikes, Juan Soto taking hittable strikes, Vientos and Francisco Lindor getting blown away by hittable strikes, and so on and so forth.

That in turn was a big contributor to the team’s inability to score runs and hit with runners in scoring position. Hell, if you don’t make contact, or you don’t make quality contact against low-quality strikes, it’s hard to score.

But now, that’s not happening, thankfully.

And the results for the offense have been there in large measure. Sure, they have their brownouts, but even the best offenses can’t kill it every day. But the Mets have put up double-digits in runs four times in August after doing it only six times through the first four months of the season. They’re averaging 6 runs scored per game this month and have posted an .849 OPS in 22 games during the same span, the best in the majors.

Now, this isn’t sustainable. But as long as they don’t completely regress back into what they were since the middle of June, the offense should be fine if not minimally competent.

Of course, the Mets still haven’t figured out how to mitigate their general problem in the starting rotation, which is a lack of competence combined with the short start problem.

Senga was pretty bad last night, although Carlos Mendoza tried to get him through the fifth inning. Of course, he couldn’t get an out in the fifth, so he had to pull him in what was truly a must-win game, especially after the Mets rallied to tie the game after Senga barfed up three runs. Thankfully, Mendoza’s bullpen decisions paid off, and they held Philly down the rest of the way.

But it was more of the same from Senga, who has been flat out terrible since he returned from the injured list. Interestingly enough, this downturn with the rotation began with Senga hitting the injured list after he hurt his hamstring covering first on that PFP play in mid-June. He has not completed six innings since returning from the injured list six weeks ago and has pitched fewer than five innings five times in eight starts since July 11.

He has a 5.40 ERA in 35 innings over those eight starts. 35 innings!

It’s funny - the Mets have massaged their rotation and built an entire strategy around ensuring Senga is comfortable and pitching on a schedule he grew accustomed to in Japan. All for 35 largely ineffective innings in six weeks and an injury-plagued last two years.

Imagn Images

But of course, he isn’t the only problem in the rotation. It’s just another frustrating pain point David Stearns has to solve this winter, because they’re stuck with another two seasons of this with Senga and they have yet to figure out how to keep him truly comfortable and healthy over the first three years of this contract, despite everything they do to try and check those boxes day after day.

Now, back to this stretch against the Phillies…

These are all must-win games for the Mets if they want to have a prayer in the division. Realistically, it’s unfair to expect them to actually win all seven of these games. But 6-1 is the landing spot, which would get them to within 2 games by close of business next Thursday if everything holds. Of course, that assumes the Mets match the Phillies pound-for-pound when they’re not playing each other this coming weekend, but it’s 6-1 or bust if you ask me. That’s a tall task especially with so many problems in the Mets rotation right now.

Of course, by the time the Mets leave Philadelphia next Thursday, perhaps the rotation could look a little different? Do they give some of those innings to Brandon Sproat or even Jonah Tong?

Honestly, I am so sick of seeing this rotation flounder on a daily basis. I know they’re prospects and it’s unfair to inject them into this pressure cooker. And yeah, Sproat hasn’t had a great season at Triple-A (although he’s been among the best pitchers at Triple-A over the last couple of months) and Tong is only getting his feet wet in Syracuse too.

But they’ve injected Nolan McLean who seems to fit in quite well at this level so far. And to be frank, at least these guys give the Mets some hope. And nobody can say McLean’s arrival didn’t inject some energy into what was truly a lifeless club.

We will see what they do. But as we all know, there’s no path forward with a rotation operating like this on most days.

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Around the League 🚩

• Emmet Sheehan allowed just two hits with 10 strikeouts in the Dodgers 7-0 win over the Reds

• Brandon Woodruff got roughed up for five runs over 5.2 IP, but the Brewers slugged out 10 hits in a 7-5 win over the Diamondbacks

• Cal Raleigh hit his 50th home run of the season as the Mariners beat the Padres 9-6