Reese Kaplan -- The All Star Break and First Half Performance

With the All Star break nearly upon us it’s time to take a look at what has gone well and what has not for the 2025 Mets season.  Obviously when the team has held or nearly held first place throughout more than half a season there are going to be quite a few positives.

What’s Gone Right

Pete Alonso has had a half season for the ages.  Yes, he still has had some long stretches where he seems a bit off at the plate but the numbers are quite good.  What’s particularly tellin is his batting average which is likely more of a surprise than the run production.

Francisco Lindor is indeed playing like an unnamed team captain.  He is present on the field and at the plate.  His run production is fantastic while his batting average is catching up to where folks expected it to be.  The effort defensively is solid.  So is his base running, broken toe and all.

Juan Soto took awhile to get things in gear before his player of the month quality for June while the rest of the team was in a complete tailspin.  He is showing now why he received the largest contract in baseball history.  He is driving in runs not just with power but also with base hits. 

Brandon Nimmo quietly put together a solid run producing half which suggests he’s on the way to a 100 RBI season which really got a jump start when he moved into the leadoff spot in the order.

Edwin Diaz has had ups and downs as a Mets closer but this run in 2025 is clearly one of this best.  Going into the break he’s been virtually unhittable and behaving like the lockdown closer he’s shown to be in the past. 

David Peterson in 2024 delivered pitching on a level no one had ever anticipated from him after his on-again/off-again baseball career.  He looked dominant and for once fully healthy.  In 2025 he’s shown more of the same, including at one point a complete game victory.  Going into the break he’s threatening to cross back into the sub 3.00 ERA territory of the previous year. 

Clay Holmes was signed as an experiment to see how he could do the Seth Lugo bullpen to starter transition.  While not every game is going into the all-time greats video compilation, his 8-4 record with a 3.29 ERA for the 2025 season over 18 starts says that the front office was right when they foresaw solidity in him as a member of the rotation.

Kodai Senga was on the road to leading all of baseball with his 2025 numbers before injuries hit him.  Right now he’s slated to make his comeback to the rotation in Kansas City after putting up stunning first half numbers of 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA.  Even if he doubled that last number when he returns he’d still be pitching at an All Star level.  We’ll take that for sure.

What’s Gone Wrong

While every club has to overcome player Injuries, the Mets have had more than their fair share.  In the pitching realm you lost A.J. Minter and Danny Young, your left handed relievers, for the entire season.  Then others relievers faltered like Jose Butto, Max Kranick and Dedniel Nunez.  Starting pitchers on the IL included Frankie Montas, Sean Manaea,  Kodai Senga, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning.  That’s a lot of arms to lose in a half year.

On the offensive side the injuries haven’t been quite as severe (with the exception of Jose Siri), but the slumping has been mind boggling.  Pick a name other than the top four and you see them hitting at .230 or below.  Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Luisangel Acuna, Mark Vientos, Tyrone Taylor and various others trotted out for anywhere from a few games to a few weeks.  Some people proclaim when you hit rock bottom there’s nowhere to go but up.  Others suggest that significant changes need to be made.  Neither have happened.

The NY Mets bullpen in 2025 is mostly Edwin Diaz, sometimes Reed Garrett, sometimes Ryne Stanek and sometimes Huascar Brazoban.  Coupled with them are the relievers of the week from Syracuse or the DFA acquisition route, but nothing has been done to make bring established major league quality arms into the bullpen.  As a result the Mets relievers have given away many games due to overuse and inconsistent efforts. 

Defense has not been a highlight reel attribute for this club either.  Once you get past the Francisco Lindor and Tyrone Taylor regular stellar efforts it is at best average and at worst suspect.  Even the supposed solid performers like Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil have recently exhibited vulnerabilities. 

The managerial effort from sophomore skipper Carlos Mendoza is better than many might have expected.  Given the decimation of the pitching staff and a lineup that resembles Swiss cheese rather than the Big Red Machine he’s kept the club on the precipice of the top of the division.  With folks returning from the IL and the very long overdue midseason trades this club could indeed be competing for October games.  You’ve seen more passion and the corresponding ejections for Mendoza this year which is a testament to his growing confidence in his role and the overall frustration of the June swoon.

What Needs to Change

Everyone speaks of David Stearns as ranking among the best of the best.  You can easily point to a number of off season acquisitions that people didn’t think amounted to much but instead turned out to be far better than most expected.  That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the long season requires putting your best possible team on the field for nearly 6 months and clearly that has not happened.  These Mets are giving extended looks to slumping players or never-was players in the hopes that they will somehow hold down the fort for whomever the ambulance carted away but it clearly has not happened. 

The July trading deadline is kind of the last gasp effort at changing the roster.  You can pursue expiring contracts for star quality players knowing you are reinforcing the team for August, September and hopefully October.  You can acquire players who are not just here for a few months but could help in the future as well.  Those types of trades cost more in terms of money and player personnel.  Or you could sit back hoping the phone will ring with other clubs showing the aggressiveness to improve with Mets current and future players becoming a part of their own rosters, but it also might never happen.

What the Mets need right now more than anything else is depth and breadth within the major league roster.  They’ve shown they do not have it at the plate, in the field and on the mound.  While an eleventh hour deal for a recognizable name could happen, the fact is that the DH, 3B and CF slots are all weak offensively with the bullpen a disaster.  The only area where the club should prosper for the remainder of the season is starting pitching if indeed Montas, Senga and Manaea are all healthy and capable of joining Peterson and Holmes every fifth day.  If not, well, it’s back to more of the thus-far 2025 season and another June becomes possible.