It’s hard to believe, but the New York Mets’ first half turned into a complete disaster. Despite starting the season 11-1, the Mets hit the All Star Break with the worst record in the National League. It is quite an accomplishment to go from 10 games over .500 in mid-April to the lowest winning percentage in the NL in the span of three months, but the Mets managed to do it. Let’s take a look back at what has gone wrong for the Mets over the course of the first half:
Injuries, Injuries, Injuries: Despite overhauling their medical staff last winter, the New York Mets were slammed with injuries once again. The Mets have seen over $95 million of payroll land on the disabled list, with Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce, David Wright, Todd Frazier, Anthony Swarzak, Jason Vargas, and Noah Syndergaard all missing significant time due to injury. Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, A.J. Ramos, and Rafael Montero are all out for the season as well. This makes it three seasons in a row that the Mets have had multiple core contributors spend more time on the shelf than on the field, which is a significant part of the problem.
Money Wasted: Sandy Alderson made a lot of moves in free agency this winter, and they have almost all backfired in spectacular fashion. Bruce has been awful the whole season, hitting .212 with only three homers and 17 RBI’s, before landing on the DL with a hip injury. Frazier, who had never been hurt before in his seven year big league career, landed on the DL twice and is only hitting .217 with 10 homers and 32 RBI’s in 61 games. Swarzak missed two months this season and has been awful since returning from the DL while Vargas, who was brought in to stabilize the back of the rotation, is 2-6 with an 8.60 ERA in nine starts. Adrian Gonzalez didn’t last past mid-June at first while Jose Reyes has been one of the worst players in baseball this year. The Mets might have been better off lighting that money on fire instead of investing it in that collection of players.
Home Field Disadvantage: The Mets have never really played that well at Citi Field since it opened in 2009, but this year has been particularly dreadful. Home games have not been friendly for the Mets, who are just 19-32 at Citi Field this year, which is the worst home record in the NL. A lot of the problem comes down to inept offense, with the Mets batting just .212 at Citi Field this year, the worst home batting average in the majors. The next closest team is the Oakland A’s, who are hitting .226 in their home games.
Mickey Callaway’s Wild Ride: When the Mets were 11-1, Mickey Callaway was being hailed as a genius for his innovative moves and logical thinking. The worm turned quickly for Callaway, who quickly lost the fans with more questionable decisions and head scratching statements to the media. While the Mets haven’t given Callaway much to work with, he hasn’t helped the situation with some of his tactical decisions.
The Usual Suspects: The Mets were banking on a good starting rotation entering the year, and they have gotten that, with the rotation having a respectable 4.02 ERA. The other two units on the team haven’t pulled their weight, with the bullpen carrying a 4.65 ERA (25th in MLB) and the offense simply doesn’t score runs (362, 26th in MLB), hit for average (.228, 29th) or power (97 homers, 23rd).
If you add all that together, you have the Mets’ first half in a nutshell. This is a relatively simple explanation for how the Mets became the fastest team in history to go from 10 games over .500 to 10 games under .500, and as a result their season is effectively over with two and a half months to go. It is an absolute shame for the Mets’ fans, who were absolutely teased with the strong start only for it to turn into a worse team than the 2017 version that lost 92 games. A lot of changes are on the horizon, and most of them are a result of simply dreadful baseball.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
