One Saving Grace

 

So uh...not sure if y'all have been up on it, but things haven't been going particularly well for the Mets. They had that epic losing streak, lost Lindor to the IL, now will be without Luis Robert for a bit. The mood is generally pessimistic. Even the die-hard Mets fans are worried. Because Steve Cohen did exactly what he said he was gonna do, and loaded this team with grade-A talent, both homegrown and contracted, and put them all in position to succeed, and they're still getting embarrassed. It both makes absolutely no sense and makes all the sense in the world at the same time. 

Here are some facts. There's only one member of the starting lineup with a WAR greater than 0.2, that being Juan Soto. Francisco Alvarez currently leads the team in home runs with a whopping four, and as a reminder we're one month into the season and not one week. The 'Bo Bichette at third base' experiment is going about as well as you might expect, bringing us back to the 90s trend of a Bichette excelling at the game while being dragged backwards by being forced to play the field 162 games. Most of the production in the last two weeks has come from M.J. Melendez, who somehow wasn't able to do this well enough to keep a job in Kansas City. David Peterson, Kodai Senga and Devin Williams all look positively cooked, and a suddenly-healthy Christian Scott isn't looking much better at the moment. 

This team is hitting .227. You get Robert, Semien, Bichette, Soto, Lindor and Alvarez in the same lineup and you still end up hitting .227. At the very least it's not for a lack of trying, but it's just not what you want from these circumstances. 

What is exciting, though, is that the team has unwittingly returned to the deGrom era, in the sense that they're putting out a genuinely terrific starting pitcher every 5 days and getting little to no run support for him. Nolan McLean is undeniably a star, and is pitching like a tenured pro even less than a year into his big league career. So far he's got a 2.55 ERA, an 0.849 WHIP and 45 Ks through 6 starts. Only one win though, which is very reminiscent of deGrom's luck in Queens. I do have a feeling this team will be good again before McLean has to play somewhere else, because if an arm like that gets wasted on teams like these, I don't think Mets fans will be able to take it. At least Doc Gooden got a World Series ring, man. Tom Seaver too. 

At the very least there's been a slight improvement since the losing streak, but the Mets are still blowing games to the Nationals, and that's not a good look. There is still time to build something here, and with a team like this it definitely can be done. But this is not the way you want to start a season like this. I dunno if it'll take a Soto-led sea change or a Mendoza firing for things to get better, but something will need to happen soon.

Coming Tomorrow- Another mid-2025 callup that's playing a major role in his big league club. This team, if you can believe it, might be in more dire shape than the Mets.

Drop Everything

 

What I'm getting from all of this is that the Mets really want to make the playoffs.

Look, August was rough. There was a long stretch of no activity. And then towards the end of the month there were some huge wins, including 4 double digit wins [plus two more in September]. Getting Francisco Alvarez back, once again, meant a rise in production, and now Juan Soto is in full 'untouchable' mode despite some points during this season where he was clearly very touchable. He's looking at a 40 homer year, an 100 RBI year, and one that seemed to come a lot less naturally than the last two. The Mets are taking off, and even if there's still some ill-timed losses that make creeping up to Philly a bit more difficult, they want it bad.

The move they made this week was one that cemented that. In order to include all three prized prospects in the current rotation, meaning all of Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat, the Mets sent Kodai Senga down to Syracuse. The guy who, going into this season, was supposed to be the team's ace, is down in the minors right now trying to straighten out. And thus the current major league rotation consists of David Peterson, Clay Holmes...and three rookies. Explain that to a Mets fan in April. In April this rotation was looking like it was gonna be Senga-Manaea-Holmes-Megill-Montas. Montas and Megill are hurt, Manaea's relieving again, Senga's down, and joining Holmes is Peterson, who'd yet to really click til this year...and three rookies. That'd horrify everybody. On paper there's no leverage. You can't make David Peterson out as the ace before this season, before they realize he's got it.

And how do you sell that the Mets, starting 3 rookies, are still competitors, and favored at that? Well...all three rookies are *ready*. Look at Nolan McLean. I'm already in awe of this guy. Like, deGrom in 2014 levels of in awe. McLean's made 4 MLB starts, and is 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA and 28 strikeouts. The sheer dominance this guy is capable of even NOW..that should be worrying people. Then you have Jonah Tong, whose unconventional windup makes him a wild threat and who only allowed 1 earned run in his debut. And then you have Brandon Sproat...who's supposed to be just as good. All three of those guys, in good condition, hurling at you down the stretch. The future...leading you to a postseason spot. That'll win people over, right?

I know I shouldn't be, but I am kinda worried about the Mets. The Phils have to play these guys next week. It's very likely that they're gonna have to face McLean again, and it didn't go well at all the first time. They're still 20 games over .500, holding onto the wild card spot with no immediate competition [though somehow the Giants are approaching], and threatening to lap the Phils soon. Yes, these are the Mets at the end of the day, but pare back enough MLB pieces and you see the rest of this decade glaring down at you, and that's not comforting whatsoever.

Coming Tomorrow: Possibly one of the most entertaining characters in the game. Losing Joey Votto may have hurt, but there's plenty of Votto-type guys hanging around the league.