Reese Kaplan -- First Place and Nothing But Worries

It’s getting increasingly difficult to watch the Mets play despite them still being 3 games out in front of the Nationals in first place in the NL East.  Some days it’s the pitching that’s cringe-worthy.  Most days it’s the hitting.  Let’s not forget the highly inconsistent and questionable defense.  

Many people felt that the return of various injured players would revitalize the team and propel them into a more consistent winning way of playing.  Well, Jeff McNeil is back. Michael Conforto is back.  Marcus Stroman missed IL time for his hip but last pitched as if all was not right (and let’s not forget he’d just lost his grandmother).  

Initially people were expecting Brandon Nimmo yesterday, but word came out that they are having him play some more games in Syracuse to confirm not only that his finger is OK but also that he’s back in form for regular everyday play in the majors.  He will likely slide into center field where he was most of the pre-injury games.  That means Kevin Pillar gets to spend lots of time sitting on the bench (hopefully alongside Albert Almora).  

Word has also come out that later this week or early next week J.D. Davis is beginning his minor league rehab games.  While he was not exactly performing at star level before he went down, his replacement -- Jonathan Villar -- has been up and down.  Right now he’s out.  

The latest word on missing pitchers is not especially good.  Carlos Carrasco they’re expecting in late July to early August.  Noah Syndergaard may not make it back at all.  Jordan Yamamoto is being reevaluated to see when he can attempt to throw again  None of that means much to the Mets improving their competitiveness.

The one move that is expected sooner definitely has that potential, but not necessarily in a good way.  Dellin Betances has been pitching in the minors and hitting mid 90s on velocity but his ERA is plain awful.  He’s only allowed just so many days in rehab before the Mets have to make a decision on his future and there are some who would advocate cutting him loose or trying to station him in the minors rather than letting him jeopardize games in the majors.  

Once again it looks as if our acting GM Zack Scott is going to need to start acting like a GM and engage in that old fashioned baseball transaction called a “trade” in which he can try to pry loose from another team some starting pitching to help the Mets right now.  Doing so may require sacrificing players who are relatively highly regarded prospects or who are already in the majors but not suited particularly well to the roster right now.  No matter who leaves, the Twitterverse will illuminate with fury from the fans, all of whom are sure they just gave away a future Hall of Famer for scrap heap leftovers.  

I’d recently volunteered a few names from other clubs who are likely obtainable due to their teams being out of contention or their contracts coming to expiration at year’s end.  It might be worth exploring younger pitchers, AAA pitchers and other options as well since a quick (and expensive) fix may not have as many hurlers available and they may only be rent-an-arm types.