Last June was an absolute disaster for the New York Mets, who won just five games and fell completely into oblivion. This June was slightly better for the Mets, who won 10 games in the month, but they dropped another 18 in the process. In a strange sense of deja vu, the Mets once again fell completely out of the playoff picture in June, and another season is all but over before the fourth of July.
The Mets started off June reasonably well, winning a pair of series at home and splitting a Subway Series doubleheader against the New York Yankees. The turning point came on June 13, when the Mets saw Edwin Diaz blow a save in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals with rain pouring down on the field. A washout would have given the Mets the win, but the team insisted on playing, leading to the game getting suspended.
Starting with the completion of that game the next day, the Mets went just 5-13 for the rest of June, going from 33-34 to 38-47 by the end of the month. The lowlights included dropping three out of four against the Cardinals, a meltdown in Chicago from Seth Lugo that saw Mickey Callaway and Jason Vargas curse out a beat reporter, and a seven game losing streak that all but buried the Mets in the standings. To make matters worse, the Mets managed to screw up their 1969 World Series celebration by listing two living members of the title squad as deceased during a video tribute.
The biggest source of consternation for the Mets was their bullpen, which pitched to an ERA of nearly eight and gave up the lead on a consistent basis. It was hard to blame the offense, where Jeff McNeil (.373/4/19), Pete Alonso (.307/9/21), Todd Frazier (.274/8/23), Wilson Ramos (.282/4/10), and Dominic Smith (.297/6/7) were among the many hot hitters this month. Jacob deGrom and Vargas did their part as starters, each pitching to a 2.70 ERA, but the bullpen really ruined a lot of things for everyone.
The Mets now have an interesting month ahead of them in July. After finishing the first half with matchups against the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, the schedule lightens considerably after the All Star Break, with a lot of games against teams with losing records like the Miami Marlins, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, and Pittsburgh Pirates. It is probably too late for the Mets to do anything with that, however, so don’t be surprised if the focus by the end of July is what kind of prospects the Mets can get back for Zack Wheeler, Frazier, and Vargas at the trade deadline.
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