What to watch for in the 2nd half of the season with the Mets

Meanwhile Jordan Walker bests Kyle Schwarber in the finals of the home run derby

Jul 14, 2026

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets were off on Monday and will begin the post all-star break portion of their season on Thursday night against the Phillies
RHP Justin Verlander discussed his brief time in New York (SNY)

In the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Rich recaps the Mets terrible first half and the week that just passed without any sign of a pulse from the club.

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Down on the Farm 🌾

All Mets minor league affiliates are off and will resume action on Friday night

Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets are off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The season resumes on Thursday when the Mets take on the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Finding reasons to stay interested in the Mets ✍️

There’s no two ways about it. The first half of the 2026 season was an unmitigated disaster for our New York Mets. Virtually none of the front office’s drastic offseason transactions have worked out, injuries to key pieces have limited the team’s ability to score, and even some of the veteran players that are supposed to be sure things have dramatically underachieved.

There really have been next to no positives surrounding the Mets during these first three and a half months, and it’s safe to say fan interest and engagement is at a borderline all-time low.

But that’s not to say there’s nothing to pay attention to as this team plays out the string. Let’s dive into a handful of reasons to stay interested in the 2026 season.

1. The Psychopaths

The biggest positive to come out of these last few months for the Mets has been the emergence of their two young outfielders, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing. Benge brought camp with the Mets, and after a slow start at the sport’s highest level, he’s really come on over these last several weeks. He finished the first half with a .263/.326/.402 slash line, to go along with 11 home runs, 37 RBI, 12 doubles, and 15 stolen bases.

Ewing came up later, debuting just before Mother’s Day, and he’s arguably been even more impressive. In 57 games, he’s slashed .276/.350/.439, while displaying more power in the Majors than he had in the minor leagues. Lately, the Mets have moved him into the leadoff spot, where he has excelled, and it’s certainly possible that becomes his long-term home.

These two are young, exciting, and energetic, and along with witnessing Juan Soto’s nightly greatness, are the primary reasons to continue watching this team.

2. Young Pitchers

Unlike the young outfielders I just discussed, the pitchers that fall into this category are not all currently in the big leagues.

The Mets pitching staff is unquestionably about to undergo significant changes over the next couple of weeks as the team’s trade deadline sell-off commences. And once some opportunities are opened up, it’s imperative that the Mets give their young arms as many chances as possible to audition for future roles.

2023 5th round pick Zach Thornton has now made three starts for the Major League team, and was never better than the seven scoreless innings he fired against the Red Sox on Sunday. The southpaw should absolutely be taking regular turns in the rotation from here on out.

Then there’s young Jonah Tong, who entered the season as one of the team’s top prospects, but has endured a rough go in Syracuse.

In 15 Triple-A starts spanning 66 innings, Tong has worked to an ugly 6.00 ERA with a 1.52 WHIP. He’s still striking out well over a hitter/inning, but his walks are way up and he’s allowed a staggering 15 home runs. That said, as the summer drags on and the Mets are just playing out the string, there’s no reason not to get him more experience at the big-league level. If he can put together a couple of good outings in a row, I would expect New York to promote him.

A somewhat lesser-known name is righty Jack Wenninger. The 24-year-old has been better than Tong in Syracuse by a wide margin, pitching to a 3.50 ERA across 17 outings. He’s struggled at times with command, and his 44 walks in 79.2 innings are clearly way too many. But the Mets are in a position where they have nothing to really play for, and they have to start learning what their top minor league pitchers can actually do at a higher level.

3. Ryan Clifford

I’ve written about first baseman Ryan Clifford several times over the last couple of months, and we’re bound to discuss him quite a bit more over the next several weeks. Clifford is far from a perfect prospect or a finished product, but he plays a position that has been a disaster in Queens all season, and has a level of upside few in the organization can match. A season ago, he hit 29 home runs and drove in 93 runs in 139 games. This season, he’s clubbed 16 long balls in just over 300 at-bats. He has serious left-handed pop, but he strikes out far too much, and right now is hitting on the interstate. At some point, however, you have to imagine the Mets will want to get a look at him against big league pitching, but it also stands to reason that they’d like for him to get hot first.

4. Juan Soto

He’s just awesome. Every at-bat is must-see TV, as always with Juan Soto. He’s got the fourth best OPS in the game (.967), fifth highest slugging percentage (.562), third highest on-base percentage (.405), and the fourth highest wRC+ (163).

He’s done that all despite having almost no protection around him the entire year. It’s too bad the first two years of his Mets tenure have been such a stinker and a flat-out waste of his talent and production. Hopefully, the tables turn soon for both he and the Mets.

Around the League 🚩

St. Louis’ Jordan Walker won the home run derby in Philadelphia
The A’s fired their pitching coach Scott Emerson

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