If you’re searching for the sunny side of things out of Mets Land on Saturday, well, the David Wright ceremony was delightful, Brooks Raley pitched for the first time since April 2024 and was very sharp, and the Mets at least put a jolt into the ninth inning, though only of the “What if?” variety.
Beyond that, though, the 5-2 loss to the Reds was mostly filled with unpleasant reminders of Mets weaknesses, also known as fodder for David Stearns’ trade deadline to-do list.
Mets starter Clay Holmes got only 16 outs, which means their beleaguered bullpen had another long workday. The relievers excelled, throwing 3.2 scoreless innings, but the recurring theme of them having to get bushels of outs every day isn’t sustainable. The Mets need shutdown relief help. Perhaps some in the rotation, too.
And they were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on base – it’s the 10th time they’ve left 11 or more on this season, the sixth-most in the majors. Maybe they need an offensive jolt, too.
Then there were sloppy moments – a bum pickoff throw by Luis Torrens that led to a Reds run, a poor relay to second by Ronny Mauricio that kept a Reds rally alive. Talk about bad fundies.
Brandon Nimmo, who played with Wright, admitted it was a bummer not to play crisply on a day Wright, whom he counts as one of his mentors, was honored.
“Definitely disappointing to lose on his day,” said Nimmo, who added that it didn’t make the ceremony any less special. Nimmo admitted to “trying to hold back tears” himself.
“You could see how much the fans appreciate everything he did,” Nimmo said.
Trouble was, once the game started and the Mets squandered an early 2-0 lead, those fans, a sellout crowd of 42,605, turned their attention to the Mets' shortcomings. They got restless as the Mets left runners on. They booed occasionally, too.
The Mets are now 55-44, but back on June 12, their record stood at 45-24. Their under-the-radar pitching finds were being widely celebrated and they were counted as one of the best teams in baseball. They are 10-20 since, the lower rungs of the bullpen are a revolving door and they still haven’t fixed the hitting with RISP – they ranked 27th in MLB at .230 following the loss.
Nimmo said there’s daily urgency, along with the knowledge that losses like Saturday have to be let go, too.
“The guys that were here last year know that we made the playoffs by one game, so one game can decide whether we get into the playoffs or whether we don’t,” Nimmo said. “Every day there’s an urgency to try and win and try and come through.”
And, to be fair, the Mets looked like there was urgency in the ninth. They put the first two runners on and Juan Soto hit a deep drive to right that had fans buzzing. It looked like enough to be a huge highlight on a big Mets day – SNY cameras caught Wright with a huge grin, leaning out to watch the ball’s flight. But Soto’s shot curved foul. He then struck out on a check swing and their attempt at a rally ultimately fizzled.
“Obviously, Juan came within feet of tying the game,” Nimmo said. “Thought he had a really quality at-bat. If we keep putting pressure on, it’ll come. It’ll happen. We just have to keep putting pressure on and believing in ourselves.”
And getting more length from their starters. Holmes acknowledged, “If I could finish the sixth, that would put the team in a much better position to win that game.” Carlos Mendoza said Holmes had given the Mets a chance, but the Reds had made him work very hard on a day his sweeper was not effective.
Raley was terrific – he struck out Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl in his spotless inning. “Pretty good,” Mendoza said. “Typical Brooks Raley. It was good to see him back out there.”
Raley should help the pen. The Mets need more than just his return, though.
And, even on a nice day in Mets history, there were plenty of reminders of that.
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