New York Mets sink after disastrous June swoon

It’s crazy how different things can feel about a team in a month during the baseball season. The New York Mets exited May without a great vibe but appeared to be on the upswing after completing a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on June 1. Entering the day, the Mets found themselves just 3.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and right in the mix for a wild card berth. 30 days later, the Mets are now 18.5 games back in the division and 10 games out of a Wild Card spot after a disastrous 7-19 June that left them significantly closer to the NL’s worst record than the postseason.

The Mets managed not to win a series for the entire month, which is a remarkable accomplishment since they held a lead in 13 of their 19 losses. The only series the Mets did not lose was a split of the Subway Series with the New York Yankees and the lowlights seemed to get lower by the day. A sweep in Atlanta where the bullpen imploded and the Mets got poor performances from Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander may have been the tipping point for the Mets, who started making more fundamental mistakes after blowing the finale at Truist Park in a game they had led throughout.

The problems were widespread as the Mets either didn’t hit on the days they pitched well, hit great but couldn’t pitch, mishandled routine plays on defense and made plenty of base running mistakes. The Mets also had to deal with another sticky substance ban after Drew Smith was ejected during the Subway Series, forcing the team to play short for 10 days for the second time this season. Things got so bad that owner Steve Cohen held an impromptu press conference on June 28 to make clear that while he was disappointed with the team’s failures the jobs of both General Manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter were safe through the end of the season.

The positive performers were few and far between for the Mets in June but one guy who rose to the occasion was outfielder Tommy Pham, who hit .349 for the month with six home runs and 18 RBIs to supplant Mark Canha as the starting left fielder. Starling Marte showed signs of life at the plate as well, hitting .265 with two home runs and eight RBIs, while Brandon Nimmo had a power spike to lead the team with seven homers in the month while tying Pham for the team lead with 18 RBIs.

There wasn’t a ton to write home about on the pitching side but Justin Verlander did appear to stabilize, pitching to a 3.33 ERA in five starts, while Kodai Senga went 1-2 with a 3.71 ERA in five starts. The best performer on the pitching side was reliever Brooks Raley, who pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 13 appearances.

The next month sees the schedule ease up a bit after the All-Star Break, but the Mets first have to navigate the rest of this series with the San Francisco Giants as well as a six-game West Coast road trip against the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks and underachieving San Diego Padres. The Los Angeles Dodgers await the Mets at Citi Field after the break before an extended run of interleague play against the Chicago White Sox, Yankees and Boston Red Sox awaits before the Washington Nationals make their final trip to Citi Field of the season at the end of the month.

Cohen made it clear that the Mets will not be buying if they are still hanging around the bottom of the standings at this point a month from now. The sale has already begun to a degree as the Mets shipped Eduardo Escobar to the Los Angeles Angels for a pair of pitching prospects and could continue with dealing out rental players such as Pham, Canha, David Robertson and Brooks Raley. The Mets could also look to get more creative and explore deals for either Scherzer or Verlander if Cohen is willing to pay down some salary, but the return would likely have to be significant before the organization approaches either to waive their no-trade clause.

If the Mets want to avoid a sell-off, they will need to get as close to .500 as possible at the deadline, which would allow them to climb past multiple teams in the process. With just 23 games on tap for this month, the Mets would need to go something like 15-8 to shave seven games off their deficit, leaving them at 51-54 entering the deadline. The overall talent on this roster is enough to suggest this is possible but anything short of that will likely lead to a sale that waves the white flag on a season that began with tremendous promise.