After a disastrous June that was historically bad for the New York Mets, there was pretty much nowhere to go but up in July. To the Mets’ credit, they did play far better in July, going 14-9 to post their best winning percentage in a single month for the entire 2023 season. The problem was that the Mets had played so poorly for the two months prior to July that the hole they dug themselves became too deep in the judgment of the front office, leading to the beginning of a trade deadline sale that would have registered as an outright shock prior to the start of the season.
The Mets did play well at the start of July, ripping off six straight wins to offer some hope of a turnaround, but losing four straight games to San Diego and Los Angeles sandwiched around the All Star Break put them right back in the hole. The fact that the Mets managed to win more games than they lost the rest of the month was positive but certain defeats loomed larger because of winnable games the Mets gave away earlier in the season, such as failing to sweep the Chicago White Sox, dropping two out of three in Boston or splitting with an ice-cold Yankees team in the Bronx half of the Subway Series.
The first domino to fall came in the middle of a rain delay against Washington when closer David Robertson was dealt to the Miami Marlins for a pair of low-level prospects with high upside. That move shook up the clubhouse, with Max Scherzer saying after his start the following night that he intended to have a conversation with the front office about the direction of the team. Scherzer would be moved himself less than 24 hours later, sent off to Texas along with $36 million to land top prospect LuisAngel Acuna, the brother of Atlanta Braves’ superstar Ronald Acuna.
That deal completely solidified the Mets as sellers as they have surmised that their current position in the standings (50-55 overall and 6.5 games back of the final wild card spot while needing to surpass five teams) didn’t warrant further investment in the current club. Further moves are expected prior to tomorrow’s 6:00 p.m. ET trade deadline as Mark Canha and Tommy Pham will likely go while the Mets also listen to offers for players like Justin Verlander, Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and Omar Narvaez.
There were some strong performers for the Mets in July, headlined by rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez, who hit .275 with a team-high eight home runs and 16 RBIs for the month. Francisco Lindor also posted strong totals in July, batting .276 with five homers and 11 RBIs, while Pete Alonso finally started to rebound by the end of the month to post six homers and a team-high 20 RBIs.
The pitching side was headlined by Verlander, who went 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in July over six starts as he finally captured more of the Cy Young form that led the Mets to sign him over the winter. Kodai Senga also continued his strong rookie season by going 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts, striking out 29 batters in 23.1 innings pitched. The Mets’ bullpen also got solid performances from Raley, who pitched to a 1.93 ERA with two saves in nine appearances, as well as David Peterson (1-1, 3.12 ERA in eight appearances that included two starts), Ottavino (0.87 ERA in 11 appearances) and Robertson (4 saves, 2.25 ERA in eight appearances).
Even though more veterans are likely headed out by tomorrow’s deadline, the Mets will still try to make the most of the final two months of their season by trying to fight back into the playoff hunt. August offers an interesting opportunity for the Mets, who will finally get to enjoy the backlog of home games their schedule affords them after this week’s road trip to Kansas City and Baltimore. The Mets have a 10-game home stand next week that features series with the Chicago Cubs, Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates before they hit the road for seven with St. Louis and Atlanta. The month ends with the Mets at home in the midst of a nine-game home stand against the American League West, with the first six of those coming against the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers.
The schedule as a whole is a pretty mixed bag as there are some very difficult opponents on tap, headlined by three division leaders in Atlanta, Texas and Baltimore, along with series against bad teams like Kansas City, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Keeping in mind that the Mets are going to be a lesser team after their deadline moves, finding a way to get back to .500 ahead of September would be a major victory for them. That would require a 17-12 run through August, although it remains to be seen if the Mets’ talent level (particularly on the pitching side) will have enough left on it to make that kind of record possible.
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