What's wrong with the Mets' All-Stars?

Mr. Smile and the Polar Bear are two of the worst hitters in the NL right now. Plus, Manaea was solid again, Juan Soto's foot is sore, and the bullpen imploded.

(Credit: AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Our latest episode of The Just Mets Podcast is now available! Become a paid subscriber on Substack or Patreon for exclusive access & additional bonus content…

---

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets lost their series in San Diego, falling to the Padres 7-1 on Tuesday (box)

• LHP Sean Manaea delivered another solid outing, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four in his five innings of work

• 3B Mark Vientos provided two of the Mets’ hits on the evening, extending his current hit streak to eight games

• RHP José Buttó and RHP Chris Devenski surrendered six runs out of the bullpen, including a three-run home run to Padres 3B Manny Machado

• The Mets managed a mere four hits on the night, going 0-for-6 with RISP and leaving eight runners stranded

---

Injury Updates 🏥

• RF Juan Soto left the game in the fourth inning after taking a hard foul ball off his left foot; initial X-rays came back negative

• RHP Paul Blackburn (right shoulder impingement) will throw one more rehab start on August 2nd

• RHP Drew Smith (Recovery from Tommy John Surgey) has been starting bullpen sessions and is expected to move to live BP soon

---

Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Chris Devenski signed to one-year deal

• RHP Huascar Brazobán optioned to Syracuse

---

Rumor Mill 💨

• The Mets are said to be considering Orioles OF Ramón Laureano, though he appears lower on their priority list (NY Post)

• The Mets are said to be the frontrunners to acquire Luis Robert Jr. (MLB.com)

• The Mets could be a potential trade candidate for Guardians LF Steven Kwan amid the suspension of Emmanuel Clase (NY Post)

---

---

Play of the Game 🌟

Though Mets hitters didn’t help themselves or Manaea with their four singles, the game remained in reach until the seventh.

Then, this happened:

After five innings of one-run baseball from Sean Manaea, José Buttó kept the damage minimal in the sixth, allowing one extra run to cross the plate. However, everything started to unwind the next inning, as Buttó opened the home half of the seventh by allowing singles to the Padres’ Jose Iglesias and Jake Cronenworth. Following a two-run double by Elías Díaz and a two-out walk to Luis Arráez, Buttó was replaced by freshly re-signed Chris Devenski with two men on and Manny Machado due up.

On Devenski’s third pitch, Machado put the exclamation point on the evening with a towering three-run shot to left. It was the first homer Devenski has allowed in his 11 appearances this season.

---

Down on the Farm 🌾

• RHP Blade Tidwell (No. 10 prospect, Triple-A): 4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

• CF/RF Carson Benge (No. 4 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 BB

• 2B Jett Williams (No. 1 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K

• 3B Jacob Reimer (No. 6 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

---

Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (62-46) @ Padres (59-49)

Where: PETCO Park - San Diego, CA

Starters: RHP Clay Holmes (9-5, 3.40 ERA) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (0-3, 9.18 ERA)

When: 4:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

---

---

Sean Manaea looks great, but two of the Mets’ 2025 All-Stars do not… ✍️

Since his return to the mound on July 13th, Sean Manaea has quickly started to settle back into the standard he set for himself in last year’s storybook season.

Through his first four appearances of 2025, Manaea is rocking a 2.08 ERA over 17.1 innings with 22 strikeouts against only four walks. He owns a meager 0.87 WHIP and a 2.92 FIP.

His 32.3% K rate and 6% walk rate will both regress towards the mean eventually, but with a steadily increasing workload and a slowly-revealed repertoire, all early signs point towards Manaea picking up where he left off.

The 3D pitch maps for Manaea’s first four games in 2025. (Baseball Savant)

In his first three appearances, Manaea kept things simple: strictly fastballs and sweepers. He still has yet to throw more than a single sinker in an appearance, and didn’t deploy his first changeup until his third outing of the year. However, Manaea started to work his changeup more into his pitch mix on Tuesday night, and he demonstrated its potential as a devastating weapon alongside his fastball.

Look at the shape of these pitches. They’re the same until they aren’t.

His fastball looks about the same as it did last year: 14” of arm side run, 22” of drop. Manaea’s changeup, meanwhile, has averaged 14” of arm side run and 36” of drop — both upticks from last year. Combine the same horizontal break and very similar spin rates (~1500 RPM on the changeup vs. ~2100 RPM on the four-seam) with these rotations, and you’ve got two pitches that look incredibly similar coming out of Manaea’s hand.

Manaea’s fastball (L) vs his changeup (R).

Rather than relying on the speed variation to fool hitters, Manaea uses his changeup’s aggressive movement to expand the zone and get hitters to chase.

Manaea’s four strikeout pitches to Fernando Tatis Jr., Elias Diaz, Manny Machado, and Bryce Johnson on Tuesday night. All were swinging strikes.

Tuesday night’s 10% usage rate on the changeup is very close to Manaea’s 11% mark in 2024, but I’m curious to see what happens with it throughout the season. Heading into his Mets tenure, Manaea’s changeup was much more of a strikeout weapon, used as his put-away pitch as much as 22% three years ago. If he’s able to keep pairing it effectively with the fastball, will we start to see these two pitches become a particularly lethal one-two punch?

It’s early, yes, but that doesn’t mean initial returns aren’t encouraging.

Credit: Getty Images

Now, while Manaea’s first few games have been something to celebrate, the recent performance of Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor has not been.

I’m sure we all heard that very harrowing statistic on the SNY post-game show, but if not, I’ll echo it here: since June 13th, Alonso and Lindor have been two of the worst hitters in the National League. Both are hitting under .200 over that stretch, with the pair slashing a combined .196/.262/.346 with 39 runs driven in against 86 strikeouts in 337 total chances. Their collective .266 wOBA and 71 wRC+ are equivalent to that of Mark Vientos, who’s had just shy of 100 fewer plate appearances in that same span; only Luis Torrens and Tyrone Taylor have been worse hitters.

The lack of run production, admittedly, isn’t purely an Alonso and Lindor problem: while they haven’t done a ton to bring runs across the plate, it’s not like they’ve been in many situations to do so either. Over the same span that the two sluggers have been struggling, the Mets have scored the fourth-fewest runs in baseball. In these last 39 games, Alonso and Lindor have had a combined 76 chances to drive anyone in from scoring position; considering the team overall has been hitting a whopping .230 (second-worst in MLB), that makes sense.

Still, when a major lack of production is coming from the top of your lineup, you usually know what the primary problems are.

For Pete, it’s the usual suspects: he’s striking out way more than normal and walking less than normal. The strikeouts are more egregious than the lost walks (30% K vs 23.5% season avg.; 8% BB vs. 10.1% season avg.), and they’re due to a common villain — he’s chasing a lot again. For Lindor, it’s a similar issue: he’s striking out at a 23% clip (season avg. 17%) while walking less than almost anyone else on the team (5.7% BB rate during slump vs. 8% season avg.), but he’s not so much prone to chasing as he is to just outright whiffing all over the zone right now.

The duo also isn’t making noteworthy contact with the ball lately. Here are Alonso and Lindor’s combined quality of contact stats since June 13th:

• Soft: 16.7%

• Medium: 49.8%

• Hard: 33.6%

Not all that surprising they’ve combined for only13 doubles and 11 homers in 39 games, is it? It also explains their collective .232 BABIP.

So, what’s the solution?

Hopefully, the recent spark from the bottom of the lineup and/or a new roster addition (either via trade or Minor League promotion) can help to put a jolt back into Alonso and Lindor’s bats.

For Lindor, there might be some glimmers of hope on the horizon: for his last seven games, he’s hitting .260, but his OBP is stuck at .281…not quite what we’re looking for in a turnaround. He’s pressing, and that’s always when he’s at his worst.

For Alonso…some meditation or other sort of self-centering exercise(s) might be in order. He’s 3-for-28 in his last seven, and has been hitting sub-.100 for two weeks. Heading into the final two months of a playoff hunt, that needs to get turned around sooner rather than later.

Maybe a homestand will fix them.

---

Around the League 🚩

• Reliever Seranthony Domínguez was traded from the Orioles to the Blue Jays in the middle of their doubleheader. Baltimore received Toronto’s No. 10 prospect RHP Juaron Watts-Brown in return

• Braves superstar Ronald Acuña Jr. is headed to the IL with Achilles tightness

• Reds 3B Eugenio Suárez received a CT and MRI on his hand after being hit by a pitch on Monday; both came back negative