The Mets were atop the NL East for 73 days. Then, the team went through a funk. What to make of it? Over a 162-game season, any MLB team is not as great as it thinks and isn’t as bad as it feels.
Despite all that, the Mets are 55-42, just a ½ game back of division-leading Philadelphia Phillies, and not that far off from having the best record in baseball (Tigers at 59-38).
That’s remarkable when you think about what the Amazin’s went through. They lost their starting rotation to injuries, their best hitters went through a hitting slump, and the team played six games in five days, including a doubleheader. Somehow, the Mets managed to win four of six in that stretch after being swept by the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
Give credit to the team and its manager for persevering through adversity. The season could have gone off the rails at that point.
Despite all that, a Mets fan can say their team is in a good place. This team has the leadership in place to survive. Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, and Juan Soto (aka Steve Cohen’s “Fab Four”) would not let this team fall apart. The Mets have regained their mojo and should make the playoffs because they have the hitting to compensate for their pitching deficiencies.
Plus, with so many playoff spots, they should be good enough to be in. With the Mets getting their starting rotation back in whole, this should increase their chances of playing in October. Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea came back from the injury list this weekend at Kansas City. They both pitched well, and that’s a great thing.
Photo courtesy AP/Pamela Smith
In the Mets’ 8-3 victory Friday night over the Kansas City Royals, Senga struck out four Royals in four scoreless innings while allowing four hits and walking two on 67 pitches. He was on a pitch count, so that explains why he only pitched four innings. On Sunday afternoon in the Mets’ 3-2 loss to the Royals, Manaea pitched in relief for Clay Holmes, allowing a run on five hits over 3 ⅓ innings and striking out seven on 65 pitches.
We know how good Senga and Manaea can be. It’s a matter of them staying healthy for the Mets to improve their odds of going to the World Series and winning a championship. Those two should provide optimism for the Mets as we head into the stretch run coming up.
With David Peterson getting back on track, he makes a perfect third starter. Holmes should be good enough to be the fourth starter.
Tylor Megill (photo courtesy Amazin’ Avenue)
The Mets got as much as they could with Griffin Canning, who is out for the season with an Achilles injury. Who knows when Tylor Megill comes back from the injury list with an elbow sprain? That means the team may be biding its time until it calls up Brandon Sproat or Nolan McLean from Triple-A Syracuse. It’s hard to trust Frankie Montas, especially when he is injury-prone.
It could just be that Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns may need to make a trade for a starter at this trade deadline, and Joe Ryan makes sense. The Mets have the capital in prospects to make such a deal, and Stearns can’t be thinking about the future when he has a team that can win the World Series with players such as Alonso, Soto, and Lindor in their prime.
There are no guarantees Senga and Manaea can be healthy, so it should behoove Stearns to get a starter of Ryan’s ilk.
The bullpen should be fine despite going through a rough stretch. If the starters can go deep in games, it will help the relievers. And yes, Stearns should add relievers such as Griffin Jax at the trade deadline, after AJ Minter was out for the season with a lat strain, and Dedniel Nunez underwent Tommy John surgery this past week.
Yeah, you can say the Mets are in a good place despite everything thrown at them this season. As a wise baseball philosopher said, everything is in front of the Mets. ‘Gotta Believe!” seems to fit, too.
