Over the past 24 hours, both Mets manager Carlos Mendoza and president of baseball operations David Stearns have publicly acknowledged the obvious: the bottom of the Mets order is not producing.
They’re right to identify the problem. But Stearns was also correct on Tuesday in suggesting that internal fixes were coming.
More vexing for the season’s long-term outlook is the state of the Mets’ pitching.
On the hitting side, the current active roster is probably not strong enough to shake off the recent trend of frequently recurring flat games. But a lengthier lineup by mid-summer is easy enough to imagine — not tonight, not tomorrow, but soon enough to keep the Mets in contention to make the deep playoff run that until recently felt likely.
Mark Vientos should return from the injured list at the end of the week, and Francisco Alvarez is in Syracuse trying to get right. It’s not unreasonable to think that at least one of those dynamic young hitters will find himself over the next few months. Both have already proven that they can slug in the big leagues.
Jesse Winker, on the IL since May 5 with an oblique strain, will begin a rehab assignment next week. His return will help shore up the DH spot and further lengthen the lineup.
Beyond that, I expect the Mets to seek a center fielder at the trade deadline, with Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins and Boston’s Jarren Duran among those who might become available. Tyrone Taylor is a winning player, but another bat could push Jeff McNeil into the bottom third of the lineup, which is where he fits best.
It’s too early to say if the Mets will seek a third baseman. But let’s play fantasy baseball for a moment. If Arizona makes free-agent-to-be Eugenio Suarez available or Boston is willing to move Alex Bregman ($40 million this year, followed by an opt out or two more years at $40 million), the Mets could acquire one as a rental player and use Vientos at DH for the remainder of the year. Brett Baty’s swing would play at Fenway Park.
That is all speculative. Maybe the reality of tweaking the infield mix is more in the Jeimer Candelario category than the Bregman/Suarez lane. But the idea illustrates how many avenues, both internal and external, exist that could improve the offense beyond the continued excellence of Juan Soto, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor.
"We have some players who are getting healthy who I think will help there," Stearns said Tuesday. "I also think the players who have struggled in our lineup over the last month largely are better offensive players than we've seen so far. They themselves have demonstrated that over periods of this season.”
It’s not as easy to see how the Mets address a pitching staff that suddenly seems shaky and tired — and which still leads baseball in staff earned run average, though likely not for long.
Most nights, the Mets simply aren’t able to match the ace-level opponents they have faced in recent series against Tampa Bay, Atlanta and Philadelphia. That makes it hard to end a losing streak, or kick off a winning one.
Tuesday brought the news that Sean Manaea will pitch for the remainder of the season with a "loose body" or floating bone fragment, in his elbow.
Manaea had a cortisone injection to address the discomfort, and the team still expects him to return shortly from the oblique injury that has delayed the start of his season. But Manaea is more hopeful than certain that the elbow issue will not impede him for the rest of the year.
Clay Holmes, moved into a starting role this year, has lately shown signs of fatigue. Tylor Megill struggled before injuring his elbow. The bullpen, asked to carry a heavy load, has seen its own share of injury and regression.
Looking for hope? David Peterson continues to develop into a top-of-the rotation starter, and Kodai Senga (hamstring) will return. The Mets continue to employ one of the best pitching coaches in the sport, Jeremy Hefner, and a POBO who has done this before — including last year.
As the Mets try to find their way back to consistent winning, they are forced to do so with diminished pitching. They have prospects who might contribute in the future, but are not ready now. And just like at every trade deadline, most contending teams will be looking for impact pitchers.
It won’t be easy to find a way back toward enjoying the best pitching staff in the league.
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