Three reasons to believe the Mets can right the ship
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor returns to the dugout after lining out against the Cleveland Guardians during the fifth inning of an MLB game at Citi Field on Aug. 5. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
About nine hours before first pitch Tuesday, Mets owner Steve Cohen took to social media to talk about, of all things, hope.
“We haven’t been playing well,” he tweeted, “but I still believe in this team.”
Cohen generally is not the type to pull punches, and this particular missive might’ve felt ironic, especially considering that he hadn’t tweeted about the team for about a month.
The Mets carried a seven-game losing streak into this series against Atlanta, and have lost 11 of their last 12. They can barely sniff the Phillies for first place in the NL East, and were clinging onto a two-game lead over the surprising Reds for the third and final wild card spot.
Everything has looked bad: the hitting, the pitching, and the defense. Since June 13 – a stretch where they’ve gone 18-31 – a thick shroud has metaphorically enveloped Citi Field, with few respites to let the sun shine through.
Things are dire, but the owner believes. It’s a little harder for the fanbase to buy in, though, and understandably so. The lineup looks lost, the starters can’t go long, and they’ve palpably lost their spark – the way any team would after being dealt body blow after body blow.
But, for argument’s sake, let’s say that Cohen has a point. There are still 43 games left in this season, and baseball can be spitefully mercurial. Think a team is out of it? Baseball says otherwise. Think a team is cruising? Boy, do you have another thing coming.
So, in the spirit of fairness, and because there are only so many times you can write about how bad a team is playing, here are three reasons to get your hopes up. (Apologies in advance for whatever psychological damage this might do to fans if none of it pans out.)
1. The kids might be coming (and the kids absolutely should come).
The rotation has been nothing short of a disaster, and the team has pitched to a 5.46 ERA over the last seven games. Frankie Montas’ struggles earned him a bullpen demotion and manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday that highly-touted prospects Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean are being considered for Saturday’s start.
Do it.
I don’t say that lightly. Your first major-league start is pressure enough, and having it in August, during a playoff hunt, with your team in tailspin is enough to hope they pack barf bags on that trip from Syracuse.
But both pitchers have been highly impressive – McLean with that nasty, low three-quarter arm slot and wipeout slider, and Sproat with a fastball that can reach triple digits. And they’ve also got a chance to infuse this team with a little life. The Mets could use some of that right now.
“I think we saw it last year with Mark Vientos when he came up, with Luis Torrens or Jose Iglesias, Luisangel Acuna toward the end,” Mendoza said. “At the same time, we don’t want to put that extra pressure, but it’s always good to see those young guys, if we ended up going that route, just insert that youth and energy. But energy, we’ve got to create our own energy, but I’ve seen [call ups have an impact like that].”
Look, the Mets could go the safe route and call up one of the many arms they’ve used to spot start this season, but the time for safe has long past, and hopefully they know it.
2. Maybe the offense isn’t as bad as it looks.
Don’t worry, this isn’t a cop out. It’s plenty bad. During the past seven games, they’re slashing a collective .203/.276/.386, and Francisco Lindor, in particular, has looked fully at sea.
But athletes do tend to play to the back of their baseball cards, and for as much as no one wants to hear that common Mendoza refrain – “we’re better than this,” appears to be the catchphrase of the season – it’s also sort of true. Lindor, Pete Alonso, Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo are, in fact, better than this.
The at-bats often haven’t looked good, but some of their underlying metrics aren’t terrible. It’s cold comfort, but the team’s expected slugging, expected weighted on-base average, barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage and exit velocity are all in the top four in baseball. None of that is a guarantee that they’ll turn things around, but it’s at least an indication that the quality of contact might eventually beget better results.
3. The NL is populated with mediocre teams, and that alone could be enough.
The Reds, yes, are young, fast and intriguing, but the next two teams in the wild-card hunt – the Cardinals and Giants – were sellers at the deadline. The Reds also have the hardest strength of schedule in baseball down the stretch, per Tankathon, while the Mets have the ninth hardest.
Those are good conditions for a little magic, and this team could use all of it.
“The clock is always ticking,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got to start playing better. We’re a good team but we’ve got to go out there and do it…Every game counts. Every game is important. Here we are in August and the mentality is the same [as it was on Opening Day] – it’s for us to go out there and get the job done.”
The clock is ticking. Time for hope is running out. But it's not gone, not yet.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
