Would the Mets consider entering the starting pitching market in July?
Between injuries and recent struggles, the Mets may need to find a rental on the trade market ahead of the trade deadline. Plus, notes on the third base carousel
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets were off on Monday - they open a three-game series with the Braves at Truist Park in Atlanta tonight
The first All-Star ballot update has been released - Francisco Lindor is the leading candidate to start at shortstop for the National League, Pete Alonso is second behind Freddie Freeman at first base, Jeff McNeil fifth at second base, Juan Soto is fourth among NL outfielders, and Francisco Álvarez is third among NL catchers (MLB.com)
Ron Taylor - a member of the 1969 World Champion Mets - passed away on Monday at the age of 87 after a long illness (story)
Injury Updates 🏥
3B Brett Baty (groin tightness) remains day-to-day - no imaging was planned for Baty
LHP Brooks Raley (recovery from TJ surgery) will begin a rehab assignment with Single-A St. Lucie this week
Down on the Farm 🌾
All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday
Binghamton Rumble Ponies INF Jett Williams was named the Eastern League Player of the Week
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (45-27) @ Braves (31-39)
Where: Truist Park - Atlanta, GA
Starters: LHP David Peterson (5-2, 2.49 ERA) vs. RHP Spencer Schwellenbach (5-4, 3.11 ERA)
When: 7:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Thoughts on the Mets pitching concerns, third base, and the forthcoming schedule into July… ✍️
Its still a little hard to fathom what happened to the Mets pitching staff over the last weekend, given that it’s been truly a surprising success story top to bottom over the season’s first three months or so.
Sure, these arms were due for some regression, and it was impossible to believe the staff as a whole could sustain what they were doing.
The most frustrating game to me was Friday. They had a 5-1 lead, they were clicking, and then the wheels fell off after Carlos Mendoza took Clay Holmes out. I understood why he did it - they had a comfortable lead mid-game, he needed to get Paul Blackburn some work ahead of his forthcoming start on Wednesday, and Mendoza indicated before the game he would look for an opportunity to get him in there under the right circumstances.
It just didn’t work out. In fact, the whole thing blew up in his face. And that six-run inning on Friday set the tone for the rest of the weekend.
The problem for the Mets is - and we talked about it during the winter - is it’s hard to fix so many pitchers. Even David Stearns said on Friday that while they have had a lot of success figuring out what makes these middling free agent pitchers good, it doesn’t work for all and their potion might not be sustainable for all, either. We will see if Blackburn, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning can right their ship over the coming weeks, and that maybe all the time they have with Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, and perhaps Frankie Montas on their way back in some capacity by July.
The question I have is this - we all know the Mets will be in the bullpen market over the next month. David Stearns made it clear they need to replace AJ Minter and Danny Young somehow, and it doesn’t sound like he’s satisfied with the internal options. But if the starting pitchers struggle, Senga’s return is slowed, and Montas doesn’t show he is up to the task in the rotation, will he look for a top-shelf rental for the rotation this summer? Perhaps that will be more clear at the All-Star break, but it’s a road they have to at least be considering. They’re clearly not sold on what Montas is doing in his rehab assignment, and between the injury to Senga, the delayed progression from Manaea, the need to load-manage Holmes, and the struggles from both Canning and Megill, the Mets may have the quantity, but not enough quality to get them through.
Another issue the Mets need to work through is this situation at third base. Assuming Brett Baty’s groin is okay, it’s very difficult to get any sort of consistency out of him, Ronny Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuña when they’re playing musical chairs on the infield. And pretty soon, they’ll have Mark Vientos back in the mix as he’s expected to begin a rehab assignment from his hamstring injury this week.
That’s not to say the choice here is easy. None of them have truly stood out, Vientos included.
If I had the final call and had to choose one, I’d probably roll with Acuña alongside Vientos since he’s the most athletic, provides a speed element none of the others have, and can be a multi-faceted catalyst and create runs in a lot of different ways.
But, I am not in charge. Having said that, those in charge will need to make a decision on this soon.
In the meantime, they’re going to have to navigate a bit stronger part of their schedule leading into the All-Star break over the next month. They have the Braves this week and next for seven who, as far as I am concerned, can turn on the engines at any time. They’re struggling once again but they have a knack for making the Mets look bad at any moment, so I for one will not take them for granted. They have a pretty big series coming up against the Phillies in Philadelphia, a team they swept in New York back in April but of course, that was then and this is now, with the Mets leading them by a skinny 2.5 game margin as play begins today.
They do get the Pirates before a more difficult week in July between the Brewers and Yankees, and then it softens a bit against the Orioles and Royals before the break.
So, there’s a good mixture of competition and games the Mets need to soak up on the schedule over the next 30 days or so. And that begins tonight with the Braves - they need to keep that beast in their cage.
Despite the lost weekend against the Rays, this is still one excellent team. Those kinds of clunkers happen and happen to the best over the course of 162 games. The Mets’ ability to bounce back from getting knocked on their ass a bit is what will define them. It’s not a small task tonight against Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale, and Spencer Strider this week, that is for sure.
And Atlanta is Atlanta for these Mets. Always has been, always will be.
Around the League 🚩
Shohei Ohtani served as the opener for the Dodgers and allowed a run in his one inning of work as they defeated the Padres 6-3
Top prospect Roman Anthony hit his first career home run in the Red Sox 2-0 win over the Mariners
The Phillies won their fifth straight game and closed to within two games of the Mets in their 5-2 win over the Marlins
The Angels scored one run in the 11th inning, and that was all they needed against the Yankees as they held on for the shutout win in The Bronx
It’s so disappointing that none of our young guys, including Alvarez, look like they can hit right now. I agree ultimately I still have faith in Vientos because of last season. Acuna is a good 26th man. It’s looking like we will need to trade for a starter unfortunately.
Blackburn isn't suited to long relief, so I'm not surprised he blew up. He's a fifth or sixth starter under any circumstances, a .500, 4.50 ERA innings eater on the back end of the rotation. He's not someone who's going to come in and get outs in the middle of a game.
Megill and Canning are bigger issues. For the former (and I know I've said this a few times), simplicity is the key. He needs to just go with his three best pitches, change speeds on them instead of going max effort on every hurl, and then execute, execute, execute.
As to Griffin, I think the league has figured out he's going to nibble with his breaking stuff and they just need to lay off and let him fall behind. He needs to make an adjustment himself and start getting ahead on counts again. Otherwise, he's just going to keep putting cookies on the plate.