As the Mets continue their rollercoaster quest now of a wildcard slot for the playoffs there are a number of issues which haven’t been addressed since the patterns emerged earlier this year. Let’s take a look.
Outfield
Juan Soto becoming a Mets was the answer to fans’ dreams. He was easily considered one of the top five hitters in all of baseball and Steve Cohen didn’t fold his wallet until he was confident the slugger would do his work 81 games per year at Citifield. The season has not proceeded exactly as expected. The power is there with 31 HRs while it’s still August. The OPS and SLG are respectable but the .247 batting average is not. He’s been an up and down hitter whose slumps have been more frequent than his hot streaks.
Brandon Nimmo has had a season in 2025 more similar to what he did in 2024 than what he did earlier in his Mets career. The good is that the power numbers are decent. On August 22nd he has 20 HRs and 68 RBIs which suggests he might close in on 25-30 for the season and perhaps 85 RBIs. His batting average is up from long where it dwelt to .254 but below his career numbers.
We can’t even profile center field. After Jose Siri broke his tibia the Mets have auditioned various unsuitable options out there that have included from time to time Tyrone Taylor, Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte and now Cedric Mullins. It’s pretty bad when the latter is actually better than the others defensively despite hitting in the Mendoza range.
Infield
With Pete Alonso certain to exercise his opt out clause at year’s end to sell his services to the highest bidder he certainly picked the perfect time to put together his best offensive season. Right now Alonso has 28 HRs, 101 RBIs and is hitting a somewhat surprising .265. Most Mets fans figure he is priority number 1 or 2 for the off season but there is theoretically a limit to how much payroll penalty the owner will want to pay.
Francisco Lindor is having a somewhat uncharacteristically mediocre season when it comes to batting average. Hitting just .258, he’s still a crucial key to the team’s success with 24 HRs, 71 RBIs and 20 SBs. He has an outside chance at being a 30-30 player.
I don’t know how to characterize the other infielders except to call them “The Rest.” Jeff McNeil has rallied to work his way up to a mediocre .259 but that represents the best of the lot. Luisangel Acuna has shuttled back and forth between New York and Syracuse for good reason. Brett Baty beat out the crowd mostly to play 3rd base but also occasionally to man 2nd. His .242 average is actually a high water mark compared to the rest of his career and he’s hit 15 HRs with 41 RBIs. That’s serviceable but not outstanding. Even worse, Mark Vientos has thus far only hit .235 with 9 HRs and 38 RBIs. Lately his swings have looked better but that’s been a very long time in coming.
Catching
Right now this black hole has no real answer. Mack had suggested that the Mets consider a jump from AA for Kevin Parada who finally started showing a little with his bat. The issue here is that with suddenly hot Francisco Alvarez injured the Mets have two sure out alternatives in Luis Torrens and Hayden Senger. Sometimes you have to disregard Rule V options if the goal now is to make the postseason.
Starting Pitchers
Well, aside from David Peterson there’s not really any good news here. Kodai Senga has not been dominant. Clay Holmes has reached his innings limit which is forcing his starts to be shorter and shorter. Sean Manaea is not looking at all like he did last year. Nolan McLean is a bright light based upon his first start but Friday night he’s slated to face the Braves so everyone will see him a second time to determine if he’s as lethal to opposing hitters as he looked in his debut.
Relievers
Other than Edwin Diaz and surprisingly Gregory Soto the rest of the bullpen has been a roll of the dice. If the club could get the best of Brooks Raley, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Helsey consistently then perhaps they could withstand the recent efforts of Reed Garrett and Ryne Stanek. The latter is likely on the thinnest ice of all of them. No one is sure what to expect from newly demoted Frankie Montas over the final six weeks.
Last night’s 21 hit outburst makes many hitters look much better, average-wise, including Mullins, Taylor, lBaty. Let’s see if they can carry it forward. Alvarez would have been a huge help, offensively.
ReplyDeleteMorning
ReplyDeleteOutfield:
Right now, only Soto makes me happy long term here. I will take a .240 like this eight days a week
The rest of MY 2026 is up in the air right now. The Benge injury has pushed back my plans to open him up in center
I have Williams future at second
Ewing solid 2027
Past that...
Infield
ReplyDeleteLindor is my shortstop
Williams is my 2026 second baseman
The hottest player on the Mets in August, maybe the hottest in baseball, is Baty. Is he now my 2026 third baseman? I think so
Catching
ReplyDeleteI thought I suggested Parada be promoted to AAA not the majors
Alvarez is my 2026 catchet
Starters
ReplyDeleteRight now I have Peterson and McLean locked into my 2026 rotation
Relievers
ReplyDeleteI haven't had enough coffee yet this morning to tackle this question
Cedric Mullins is a great example of the "grass is greener" syndrome. He established a name by batting .291 with 30HR in Baltimore in 2021. No other season has come close to that. Now that the Mets have acquired him, it is very clear that he is not much more than a .220 hitter (.239 so far with NY) and he is NOT a better defensive center fielder than Tyrone Taylor or Jose Siri. He should NOT be re-signed as a future piece of the outfield. That belongs to Morabito or Benge.
ReplyDeletePaul, the Mets bought fool’s gold on a hot July - like maybe he woke up… nah. Aside from Soto, the Mets got hoodwinked this trade deadline pretty badly. Only the Helsley trade did I feel “ok-ish” about. The rest were stupid.
DeleteSoto has 29 HRs in his last 95 games. That is a 50 HR pace. I therefore suggest we stop complaining about him and embrace him.
ReplyDeleteAlso, he is hitting .260 on the road, .242 at home. Gee, I wonder why?
Mullins seems to be coming around. He is just a loaner car. Enjoy the ride, and turn in the keys in October.
ReplyDeleteDon't get confused about last night
DeleteMullens is a mulligan
I’m not worried about Soto at all. Just like Lindor and Piazza his first season will be a getting comfortable phase. I expect his numbers to be his norm going forward next year and a higher batting average.
ReplyDeleteBring up Sproat and Tong now and make it a 6 man rotation for rest of year, and put Holmes in relief.
I think the whole pitching staff will benefit from this.
Also bring up The Jett and send Maurcio down if he has options.
Gus,
ReplyDeleteSeveral trades from 2024 are starting to look weak. The Mets need to do better in that area.
Everyone seems to be writi g Megill off. After another strong outing yesterday, his rehab is coming to an end. Tong is for later, Sproat a maybe very soon.
ReplyDeleteThe Mets were never better than a Wild Card team as they were constructed this year. Soto was a great signing, no doubt. But Stearns believed that he could rely on his own merits after Uncle Stevie signed Soto. Stearns has hit below the Mendoza line since. Yes, he signed Manaea (we all agreed that Manaea was a good signing, and Sean may still come through in September). Alonso was another important signing, but it seemed to be more, the impetus of Uncle Stevie to get Alonso under contract (rather than Stearns).
ReplyDeleteDavid Stearns gets a C- from me in his job as the Mets GM for 2025. He has failed to provide an adequate players at all of the following positions: CF, DH, starting and relief pitching. He jumped to sign Montas which was as horrible a signing as any (from the get-go) in recent memory. Yes, he signed Canning and Holmes, which turned out to be diamonds-in-the-rough signings.
However Stearns believes he knows more than most GMs (especially when it comes to signing FA pitchers). Guess what, David? YOU DON"T!!!!! Your vaunted Pitching Lab can only do so much. You can't spin silk into gold. Consequently, the starting pitching has been putrid of late as the arms have tired or have not reached expectations. The trade for Mullins has not benefitted the team and has caused a detrimental logjam (inadvertently at 2B). Moreover, the need for an extra RH bat has never been addressed the entire year.
Accordingly, we are what we are: i.e., a wild card team desperately holding on to the last playoff seed.
The good news is that there is a lot of talent on the way for 2026 (especially in young SP arms). This is where Stearns kept his word and did not excavate the farm. This is where he earns his medal and a more positive grade ("C-" rather than a "D"). So, fellow Mets fans. We have an old Brooklyn Dodger's adage to embrace :
WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR!!!!