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Mets Daily Prospect Report, 8/03/25: Subway Series week begins!

Jonah Tong


Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (31-44/27-7)

SYRACUSE 11, CHARLOTTE 0 (BOX)

Believe it or not, this game was knotted up with no score as late as the bottom of the seventh. Nolan McLean had a strong start, but so did his counterpart on the Knights, Duncan Davitt. Syracuse finally broke the scoreless tie in the seventh, breaking out in a big way with a five-run inning. Not to be outdone, they scored six in the bottom of the eighth.


Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (45-22*/21-13)

SOMERSET 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (BOX)

Binghamton fell to the Patriots in an early afternoon matinee that saw Jonah Tong lower his season ERA to 1.58. Patriots right-hander Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz matched Tong pitch for pitch, with both teams failing to do anything against both starters but having more success against their respective bullpens. The Patriots plated two runs off of Brian Metoyer and one off of Hunter Parsons, while Binghamton scratched across a run in the eighth and ninth but couldn’t eek out just one more.

With his eight strikeouts, Tong eclipsed the 150 strikeout mark in less than 100 innings, the first Mets minor league pitcher to do that in the post-2005 modern era where minor league game logs have been archived. In 2004, Yusmiero Petit ended the season with 200 strikeouts in 139.1 innings, but without access to box scores, I cannot say for certain whether or not Petit reached the 150 strikeout mark in fewer than 100 innings like Tong has. Given that he was promoted to High-A St. Lucie from Low-A Capital City at the end of July with 122 strikeouts in 83.0 innings and then struck out an additional 62 in his 44.1 innings of work there, it is likely that he did.


High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (46-20*/14-23)

HUDSON VALLEY 4, BROOKLYN 2 (BOX)

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. The Cyclones were a pretty big deal in the first half. They’re falling hard now. With their 4-2 loss to the Renegades, Brooklyn is now 0-4 in the month of August and 2-11 in the last two weeks. Joel Diaz had a solid start, but the bats forgot to show up and the two runs allowed by Diaz and reliever Gregori Louis proved as unsurmountable as Everest in a snowstorm.


Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (34-31*/26-11)

TAMPA 5, ST. LUCIE 4 (BOX)

This game was all Tampa for 8 innings. The Tarpons scored a run in the first and second, two more in the fourth, and a fifth run in the sixth. St. Lucie, meanwhile, was twiddling their thumbs. Finally, in the ninth inning, the bats woke up. Daiverson Gutierrez drove in a run on a groundout and John Bay smashed his first professional home run, a 393-footer over the left center field hit with an exit velocity of 102.7 MPH with a launch angle of 30-degrees. With only one out left, AJ Salgado few out to end the ballgame and that was unfortunately the end of that.


Rookie: FCL Mets (24-28)

NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

STAR OF THE NIGHT

Jonah Tong

GOAT OF THE NIGHT

Gregori Louis
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/mets-d...-begins-syracuse-binghamton-brooklyn-st-lucie
 
Mets call up Justin Hagenman, option Don Hamel to Triple-A

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Ahead of today’s series finale against the Guardians, the Mets have called up right-handed reliever Justin Hagenman. In a corresponding move, the team send Don Hamel back to Triple-A Syracuse following his call up on Tuesday.

Hagenman has made four appearances at the major league level for New York this year, including one start. In 12 1/3 innings of work, he’s allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 14 hits, with 13 strikeouts and one walk. In 16 appearances for Syracuse, the righty owns a 4.99 ERA in 52 1/3 innings. He last pitched for New York against the Orioles on July 10, when he picked up the loss after allowing three runs (two earned) on four hits over two innings of relief work.

Hamel was called up ahead of yesterday’s game but, despite warming up in the bullpen in the middle innings, did to appear. The right-hander, whom the Mets drafted in the third round of the 2021 MLB draft, owns a 4.73 ERA in 53 1/3 innings for Syracuse this year, which includes eight starts and 14 relief outings.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...-justin-hagenman-option-don-hamel-to-triple-a
 
No no-hitter, still not hitting

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The Mets continued their absolute offensive ineffectiveness, getting nearly no-hit by the Guardians, and dropping the finale 4-1. With that, the Mets have now lost eight of their last ten and haven’t won a series since their sweep in San Francisco two weekends ago.

David Peterson was solid throughout his start, but two balls left right over the heart of the plate lead to home runs by David Fry and Angel Martinez, and put the Mets in a 3-0 hole by the bottom of the third inning. At points in this season, a three-run deficit with your most consistent pitcher on the mound, this wouldn’t seem too dire. But the August Mets are a team that has a very hard time scoring runs, and this game felt over very early.

Another run was added on a Gabriel Arias triple, putting the Guardians up 4-0.

But the real story of the day is Gavin Williams, who took a no-hitter through eight and a third innings. Williams wasn’t super dominant today, but was hitting his spots and getting weak contact and the Mets’ silent bats did their part. That’s not to take anything away from what Williams did; it was a magnificent start that was aided by the coldest bats in the game.

The no-hitter was broken up by Juan Soto, who had faced some criticism from Ron Darling earlier in the game for his lack of hustle. While it was nice to see the Mets avoid getting no-hit, the result was the same: the Mets lost again, got swept again, and continue to fall down the standings.

While it may not be time to panic just yet, something has to change if the Mets don’t want to find themselves irrelevant in October.

The Mets are off tomorrow before traveling to Milwaukee for three with the Brewers. Kodai Senga and Brandon Woodruff start for their respective clubs.

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WPA to follow
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-york-mets-scores/81224/no-no-hitter-still-not-hitting
 
From Complex To Queens, Episode 302: Trade deadline recap

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Welcome to From Complex to Queens, Home Run Applesauce’s podcast focusing on the Mets’ minor league system.

After a 3 week break and some vacation time, we’re back to break down what was a very interesting trade deadline around the league. There are definitely some teams that were smart…and some teams that were not. We can’t help but go on for a bit about some of the “crazier” deals that went down before we finally get to the Mets.

As for what the Mets did, we’re generally pretty big fans. By and large, they traded a set of replaceable assets for significant upgrades. Even if they made marginal overpays in a vacuum, the team can leverage their pitching development apparatus to magic up another set of prospects to trade in the future. There’s an argument that another bat or a SP would’ve helped, but it’s difficult to speculate on conversations we don’t know much about.

Visit our ⁠Patreon⁠ for bonus episodes and to help directly support the podcasters whose work you’ve enjoyed for years.

Got any questions? Comments? Concerns? You can email the show at fromcomplextoqueens at gmail dot com, and follow us on Twitter: Lukas is (@lvlahos343) and Thomas is (@sadmetsszn).

Until next week, #lovethemets #lovethemets!
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/podcast/81216/from-complex-to-queens-episode-302-trade-deadline-recap
 
This Week in Mets Quotes: Nimmo says things are not as bleak as they seem, Baseball Is The Best

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Your 2025 New York Mets: Things are not as bleak as they seem.

“Things are not as bleak as they seem. You’re really, really close. You’re one hit away usually.” -Brandon Nimmo [New York Post]

When things are going great:

…‘give ourselves a chance’….

“Even [Monday’s] game, to get back in that and make it a game and give ourselves a chance to win and be right very, very close there at the end.” -Brandon Nimmo [New York Post]

…‘got to be better’…

“I mean, we just got done with the game here. [Montas] got to be better. He knows that. So, yeah. We just got done with the game.” -Carlos Mendoza [New York Times]

…‘we’re looking into it’…

“We’re looking deep into it because last year we crushed lefties. For some reason, this year we haven’t been able to do damage against those guys. I know that’s gotta reverse. Not only are they really good hitters, against lefties they are pretty good. So we are expecting to see a trend here where it will switch. But it’s hard for us to wrap our heads around what’s going on here with the lefties. But I feel good with our chances against anybody, and definitely against lefties.” -Carlos Mendoza [New York Times]

…’working really hard’…

“The coaches are working really hard, and we’ve got to go out and do it. It falls on all of us. It falls on me as the manager. But we’re in this together. I’m not gonna point fingers here.” -Carlos Mendoza [New York Post]

…‘I really don’t know what’s going on’…

“I really don’t know what’s going on. We have the talent. The guys are capable [of doing] damage here. One day it’s gonna turn around.” -Juan Soto [New York Post]

…‘but for some reason’…

“Speaking just for myself, the consistency of making adjustments is not there. I’m preparing, the hitting coaches prepare me every day and get us ready, but for some reason, I haven’t made the adjustments. It’s not lack of preparation or effort.” -Francisco Lindor [New York Post]

…‘nobody said it’s going to be easy’…

“Nobody said it’s going to be easy for us. It’s a challenge. We’ve got to go out there and take it from them. Nobody is going to bring the trophy over here and give it to us. We’ve got to go out there and take it.” -Juan Soto [New York Post]

…‘eventually’…

“We’d love to be putting more consistent runs up there, but we’ve been able to fight in most of the games and give ourselves opportunities. Eventually you’d like to see those opportunities coming through.” -Brandon Nimmo [New York Post]

…‘eventually’…

“Eventually it’s going to turn but as a whole, we’re having a hard time putting a rally together and being consistent against lefties.” -Carlos Mendoza [New York Post]

But enough about that. let’s read some quotes about The Big Goober Pete Alonso.

“[Alonso’s] just a big goober. In like, the best way possible. I mean that as a huge compliment.” -Jeremy Barnes [MLB]

“[Alonso’s] actually a history buff, if you didn’t know that. He knows a lot of fun facts about a lot of cities and can bust it out right off the top of his head.” -Brandon Nimmo [MLB]

“I don’t know the name of the bridge, but I call it ‘The Dave Matthews Shit Bridge. Do you know the story there? [Blogger’s Note: I do know the story there.] So there’s this bridge in Chicago where, you know how they have the tour boats? Dave Matthews’ bus let all of its septic out while it was stopped on the bridge. It let all the septic through the grates that lifted up. There was a boat going underneath the bridge, and then it was just gallons and gallons of septic on these tourists. So that’s a thing. There’s actually a plaque to memorialize it there.” -Pete Alonso [MLB]

“[Alonso’s] nuts. “When you get to see the real Pete, you just know he is goofy in the best way possible. It’s so disarming when you’re with him, and it’s genuine. He’s not trying or anything. It’s just the way that he is.” -Brandon Nimmo [MLB]

“[Alonso’s] goofy enough to where people love him, and he’s serious enough to where people respect the way he plays the game and I think this year, especially what he went through in the offseason trying to figure out where he’s going … then how he’s performing right now? The dude is locked in.” -Todd Frazier [MLB]

“What I want to be remembered as is a player of substance. I just want to be remembered as a guy who plays the game hard, the guy who’s, like, the ultimate competitor. … I want to be known as a guy that performs and plays the game and wins. That’s really it.” -Pete Alonso [MLB]

“One of the best power hitters this generation has seen. I’ve seen him as a young kid come up and break the rookie home-run record. Obviously no record is really out of reach for him, especially the way he can swing it, the way he really knows his mechanics well and uses his body and his size.” -Dom Smith [MLB]

“[Alonso’s] not one of the bad guys in baseball. He’s a guy that loves playing in New York, and hopefully he’ll achieve it soon.” Darryl Strawberry [New York Post]

“It means [Alonso’s] worked hard, dedicated himself to believing in himself, because you have to,” Strawberry said. “He’s been able to stand up and play in New York in front of the pressure and the expectations, which is very hard to do, I think a lot of times people don’t realize that. And he’s a homegrown player, just like I was, and when you been developed through the organization like young players you want to do well. He’s been able to do that, so very pleased with all of that he’s about to accomplish.” [New York Post]

Baseball Is The Best.

“To hear such kind words about my work echoing through an MLB park is beyond anything I could have dreamed of as a little, baseball-obsessed kid in the stands and watching on TV,” -Sarah Langs [MLB]

“I’m so very grateful to Mrs. Cohen and everyone involved for choosing to honor me and making a generous donation to ALS research. I appreciate the recognition of my work, above everything else.” -Sarah Langs [MLB]
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/this-w...ot-as-bleak-as-they-seem-baseball-is-the-best
 
“Let’s see if this comes back to bite the Mets”

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Tonight’s game began promisingly enough, but ultimately the Mets fell to Brewers 3-2 on another night where the bats showed very few signs of life and the game ended on as soul-crushing a note as possible. There is not a single thing going right for the Mets right now and this game exemplified all of it.

Two solo homers accounted for all of the Mets’ runs. Juan Soto took Brandon Woodruff deep in the first inning to put the Mets on the board and Starling Marte doubled the Mets’ lead to lead off the top of the second with a towering shot. The Mets also managed to draw a couple of walks in the early going against Woodruff, who rarely walks anyone. But as always seems to be the case lately, the Mets failed to fully capitalize and allowed the opposing starter to settle in as they watched their lead wither away.

Kodai Senga also manifested another troubling pattern exhibited by the team during this losing stretch: he cruised through the first four innings and then things went south in the blink of an eye in the fifth, sparked by one bad play. In this case, the bad play was by Senga himself. Blake Perkins hit a dribbler in front of the plate to lead off the fifth inning and Senga came off the mound to field it, but bobbled the ball, which allowed Perkins to reach first base safely. Senga then grooved a pitch to Brice Turang and Turang absolutely covered it for a game-tying, two-run bomb. Senga then got Caleb Durbin to pop out to short for the first out, but he issued a walk to the next batter Joey Ortiz. Sal Frelick then hit a grounder that should have been the second out, but catcher’s interference was called on Francisco Alvarez and both Ortiz and Frelick remained safely on base.

“Let’s see if this comes back to bite the Mets,” Steve Gelbs (filling in for Gary Cohen on play-by-play on SNY) said. The real question is: When does it not come back to bite the Mets? Senga, unable to put the inning to bed, walked William Contreras to load the bases. And suddenly a starting pitcher who was coasting was out of the game. Brooks Raley came on in relief and found himself in a favorable 0-2 count to Isaac Collins, but then threw a pitch he’d rather have back that struck Collins in the foot, forcing home the go-ahead run. Raley did not make the same mistake to Christian Yelich and struck him out on three pitches on a borderline check swing call and then got Andrew Vaughn to ground out to finally end the inning.

But the damage had been done and the Mets’ offense wilted in the face of a one-run deficit. Outside of Raley’s one crucial mistake, the Mets’ bullpen did its job, keeping the game within reach. Ryne Stanek contributed two outs and Gregory Soto worked himself out of a jam to pitch a scoreless seventh. Meanwhile, Woodruff pitched seven innings, striking out eight Mets. Abner Uribe relieved him in the eighth and issued a two-out walk to Francisco Lindor, but Juan Soto grounded out to second to end the inning and snuff out the small spark of a rally. Tyler Rogers worked around a walk (and a subsequent stolen base) to Brice Turang to pitch a scoreless eighth, assisted by a nice play by Francisco Lindor on a sharp grounder by Joey Ortiz on the final out of the inning.

Starling Marte doubled off Trevor Megill with two outs in the ninth inning—the Mets’ first hit since a Jeff McNeil single in the fourth. And McNeil followed up with another hit, but mere days after not sending a runner home cost the Mets a game, this time Mike Sarbaugh sent Starling Marte around third. And he was gunned down at the plate on a perfect throw by Blake Perkins. Because of course he was. And with that, barring a late-inning Rangers comeback, the Mets stand to fall 3.5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East as their season continues to spiral.

SB Nation GameThreads​


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Brew Crew Ball

Box scores​


MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added​

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Starling Marte, +10.4% WPA
Big Mets loser: Kodai Senga, -19.4% WPA
Mets pitchers: -5.3% WPA
Mets hitters: -44.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto’s solo homer in the first, +10.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brice Turang’s game-tying homer in the fifth, -23.4% WPA
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...ukee-brewers-recap-mlb-senga-raley-soto-marte
 
Pete Alonso ties Darryl Strawberry for Mets record with home run 252

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In the top of the second inning of tonight’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Pete Alonso drove a ball to left-center field for his 252nd career home run. This now ties Alonso with Darryl Strawberry for the Mets’ all-time record. Alonso is also now is #23 on the list of active player home runs, three spots behind his teammate Francisco Lindor, who has 269 home runs.

Alonso hit the home run in game 963 of his Mets’ career, while Strawberry’s came in his 1106th game as a Met. Strawberry was 28 when he hit the milestone; Alonso is 30.

This is now Alonso’s second huge home run at American Family Field in Milwaukee, having saved the Mets’ playoff hopes in the Wild Card round with a home run off of Devin Williams.

On the season, Alonso is hitting .262/.349/.502 with 26 home runs, 27 doubles, and a .240 ISO. With 46 games left in the regular season, the much-debated Mets/Alonso reunion appears to have worked out just fine.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...so-home-run-252-mets-record-darryl-strawberry
 
Mets blow five-run lead, get swept by Brewers, lose seventh-straight game as the 2025 season hangs in the balance

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Maybe the Mets aren’t good. It’s always easy to overreact to the highs and lows of any season when you’re following a team, especially a baseball team that plays 162 games each year. But the Mets have become experts at finding ways to lose, and right now, it’s hard to believe that they spent as much time in first place this year as they did—some of it with the then-best record in baseball.

Today in Milwaukee, things went swimmingly—no sarcasm here, not yet anyway—through the first three innings. The Mets scored twice in the top of the first and once more in each of the second, third, and fourth innings. Sean Manaea was cruising through his first three frames, but things started to go south in the bottom of the fourth. William Contreras hit a solo home run, and Joey Ortiz drove in a pair later in the inning to cut the Mets’ lead to 5-3.

The Mets softened the blow out that half-inning a bit by getting one run back quickly in the top of the sixth. Unfortunately, that was the final run of the game, and things only got worse for the team as a whole from there. Manaea went back out to start the fifth inning, gave up a leadoff single, and was pulled—having thrown 87 pitches—in favor of Reed Garrett.

Very shortly thereafter, Contreras got to Garrett in the form of a two-run home run that pulled Milwaukee within a run. Garrett didn’t encounter any further damage, and Brooks Raley and Tyler Rogers followed with a scoreless inning each. But Ortiz struck again with a game-tying single in the eighth against Ryan Helsley, whose ERA since joining the Mets is rather unsightly. And while Edwin Díaz got through the rest of that inning in relief of Helsley, he served up a walk-off solo home run to Isaac Collins in the bottom of the ninth.

The Mets have the day off tomorrow, but days off haven’t been much of a cure for this team lately. Then they host the Braves—an objectively bad team that has had the Mets’ number this year—for three games at Citi Field.

With the Phillies and Reds having won today, the Mets are 5.5 games back in the division—their first time being that far back after having held a 5.5-game lead over the Phillies at the end of play on June 12—and just a game-and-a-half ahead of the Reds for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. If they keep playing the way they’ve been playing lately, we won’t have to provide updates on the playoff race for much longer.

SB Nation GameThreads​


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Brew Crew Ball

Box scores​


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ESPN

Win Probability Added​

FanGraphs WPA graph for Mets/Brewers on August 10, 2025

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +12.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Ryan Helsley, -29.1% WPA
Mets pitchers: -55.2% WPA
Mets hitters: +5.2% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Andrew Vaughn grounds into a double play in the seventh, +25.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Isaac Collins hits a walk-off home run in the ninth, -36.6% WPA
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...-bullpen-losing-streak-nl-east-wild-card-woof
 
Mets Morning News: It Got Worse

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Meet the Mets​


The Mets had a lead, things slowly fell apart, the guys who should hit couldn’t hit, the guys who should pitch couldn’t pitch, you know how this goes by now.

Choose your recap: Amazin’ Avenue, Faith and Fear in Flushing, NY Post, MLB.com, Daily News, Newsday, The Athletic.

In a flurry of promotions to distract you from the horrors of the major league team, the Mets promoted Jonah Tong, Jett Williams, and Ryan Clifford to AAA Syracuse in addition to bumping A.J. Ewing to Binghamton.

For the second straight start, Sean Manaea looked like the Sean Manaea that was around before 2024.

Regrettably, the Mets and Brewers game went on despite the fact that Milwaukee was hit with a massive amount of flooding.

Around the National League East​


The Braves hit three home runs, including a pair off Old Friend Tyler Zuber, on their way to a 7-1 win over the Miami Marlins.

In a waiver move, the Braves claimed pitcher Connor Seabold off the wire from the Rays.

Unfortunately, the Rangers proved to be no help at all and were swept by the Phillies with Patrick Corbin losing to Zack Wheeler in the finale, 4-2.

Fresh off what looked like retirement, David Robertson is back in the major leagues with the Phillies.

The Nationals spoiled Justin Verlander’s noteworthy day and left San Francisco with an 8-0 win to show for it.

Around Major League Baseball​


Justin Verlander became the 10th pitcher in major league history to record 3,500 strikeouts and hopes to have a few more yet to come in 2026.

A day after becoming the first woman to umpire a Major League Baseball game, Jen Pawol moved behind home plate and became the first woman to call balls and strikes in a perfectly unremarkable debut.

In good news for the Reds, who are currently trying to hunt down the Mets, Hunter Greene makes his return to the rotation this week.

Cal Raleigh continued his march through the record books, tying Johnny Bench at 45 homers for the second-most in a single season by a catcher.

There is one thing that brings every catcher together and keeps them eternally connected: getting absolutely bonked on foul tips.

Former Mets farmhand Carlos Cortes is putting his switch throwing abilities to good use, playing in the outfield as a lefty and moving in to third base as a righty.

In more news from old friends, Omar Narvaez agreed to a minor-league deal with the Texas Rangers.

This Date in Mets History​


Happy birthday to Mets Legends Al Pedrique, John Mitchell, and Melky Cabrera.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-york-mets-morning-news/83656/mets-morning-news-it-got-worse
 
Mets Daily Prospect Report, 8/11/25: Tong strikes out eight ahead of promotion

Jonah Tong throws a pitch at the 2025 MLB Futures Games in a dark blue National League jersey with a dark blue Binghamton Rumble Ponies hat.

Triple-A: Syracuse Mets (31-44/29-10)​


CHARLOTTE 5, SYRACUSE 1 (BOX)

A weak showing from the Mets, all things told. Nolan McLean was fine, but the offense struck out 13 times, managed only 5 hits, and scored just the one run in the first inning. Don’t worry though, reinforcements are on the way; Jonah Tong, Jett Williams, Ryan Clifford, and Carson Benge are being promoted from Double-A Binghamton for next week’s games.

Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies (45-22*/26-14)​


SOMERSET 2, BINGHAMTON 0 (BOX)

Four hits, no runs, an error, and a loss—not a great way for two of the Mets’ top hitting prospects (and Ryan Clifford, who I love but still has a problematic hit tool) to close out extremely successful tenures in Double-A. Jonah Tong closed things out on a more positive note at least, striking out eight in five innings to lower his ERA to 1.59 on the season.


ROSTER ALERT: Binghamton Rumble Ponies activated RHP Jordan Geber.

High-A: Brooklyn Cyclones (46-20*/16-26)​


BROOKLYN 8, HUDSON VALLEY 4 (BOX)

Joel Diaz was awful, but the offense picked him up to get Brooklyn this series-closing win against Hudson Valley. Walking eleven times is a good way to do get that done for sure. More importantly, A.J. Ewing closed out his High-A season with a 2-for-5 day; he’s slated to join Binghamton next week.

Single-A: St. Lucie Mets (34-31*/31-11)​


ST. LUCIE 8, TAMPA 5 (BOX)

Wild finish in this one. St. Lucie led 4-2 in the ninth, added four runs of insurance, then seemed on the path to blowing it in the bottom of the ninth. The Tarpons scored three and had another in scoring position before Marshall Toole lined out to end the game. Three runs isn’t that close all things considered, but watching the major league side is a great way to feel jaded about these sorts of things nowadays. Anyway, Mitch Voit mnaged two hits and two steals in the win.

Rookie: FCL Mets (24-28)​


NO GAME (SEASON OVER)

STAR OF THE NIGHT​


Jonah Tong

GOAT OF THE NIGHT​


Binghamton’s offense
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/mets-d...-mclean-benge-clifford-jett-williams-new-york
 
A quick look at Francisco Lindor post-broken toe

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While lamenting the Mets’ offensive woes, it is easy to point to the overall poor performance of the bottom half of the lineup, the increased strikeout rate of Brandon Nimmo, or the streaky nature of Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. But every bit as important as those is how, since breaking his toe on June 4th, Francisco Lindor has been bad.

Like really, really bad.

The last day that Francisco Lindor played a full game without a broken toe was June 3rd. On that day, he was hitting .284/.356/.498 in his first 60 games of the season. Sunday was Lindor’s 116th game of the season, almost exactly 60 games since the injury. In those 56 games, he’s hitting .198/.262/.344. Before his broken toe, Lindor hit 14 home runs. Since? 7. In those 56 games, Lindor has a 73 wRC+; for those that don’t use that statistic regularly, that means that he’s playing 27% poorer than a league average player.

While it is good, in some sense, to understand why Lindor is slumping (his toe hurts!), it is troubling because there’s no real way out of this slump. Lindor isn’t going to hit the IL to heal up with the team struggling to remain in a playoff spot. And even if he did, there’s no way to know if ten days would be enough rest to really see a difference.

Lindor is striking out 22.6% of the time during this stretch, while his career average is 16.5%. He’s also pulling the ball almost 10% more than he historically has (41.9% in this stretch versus 32.4% over his career) and not hitting the ball hard as often (career: 43.1%, this stretch: 29.1%). The last two points could be related to his toe because it seems like his approach is suffering because he’s overcompensating.

Now some of this could be mental; he’s clearly pressing, as is evidenced by his striking out at the top of the zone at pitches that he would typically have laid off. He’s also not getting any help from the lineup taking pressure off of him. While players are having good games here and there and Starling Marte is hitting like it is 2022, there hasn’t been much consistency at all. And Lindor, being the leader that he is, is going to do everything he can to represent and lead his team, so he’s trying to make every hit count.

This is a vicious cycle that Lindor is going to have to work through, but the time for working through is running out. With the team six games out of the National League East race at the moment, the Mets need to start firing on some cylinders, with the hope that all cylinders are possible in the future. Lindor needs to calm down and let himself not press, lest the pressure of this team will continue to drag him down.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...toe-performance-injury-slump-batting-new-york
 
Pete Alonso makes history as two-out magic leads to 13-5 shellacking against Braves

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It’s been mighty hard to find joy as a Mets fan in recent days. Despite still being in playoff position, a season that once seemed filled with limitless potential has suddenly felt on the verge of complete collapse in the midst of their current seven-game losing streak. So we all desperately needed tonight. Not only did we finally get a moment we’ve been waiting all season for, but the bats on the whole woke up in a major way. It wasn’t a perfect evening, as the starting rotation issues that have plagued the club for months still reared their ugly head. But the losing streak is nevertheless officially over after the Mets pulverized the Braves 13-5 in the series opener against their division rivals.

Clay Holmes—who has struggled as he’s gotten deeper and deeper into his first full season as a starter—took the mound tonight, and the Braves got off to a quick start against him. Jurickson Profar walked to lead off the game, and Matt Olson then lined a double over the head of Juan Soto in right field to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Drake Baldwin then hit a groundball to second base, recording the first out but also securing the first run of the ballgame to put the Mets behind.

Holmes managed to get himself out of the inning without additional damage, though. And the Mets managed to do quite a bit of their own damage against Braves starting pitcher Spencer Strider. After a quiet first inning, Pete Alonso led off the second with a double. Strider retired the next two batters and was on the verge of getting out of the frame with the lead intact, but Cedric Mullins managed to line a ball to center, bringing Alonso home and tying the game. And Francisco Alvarez then made Strider pay for not closing out the inning, as he followed the Mullins hit with an opposite-field two-run shot to give the Mets a 3-1 lead.

One inning later, the Amazins would strike again—once more with some big two-out hits. After two quick outs from Strider, Brandon Nimmo lined a single to left to bring Alonso up. And the Polar Bear—after hitting his 252nd career home run over the weekend in Milwaukee—made history yet again, lining the first pitch he saw into the bullpen in right field for a two-run shot. With that bomb, Alonso now stands alone as the all-time leader in home runs for the Mets. The crowd, predictably, went wild. And sure, most of that excitement was for this moment that fans have been eagerly anticipating ever since Alonso re-signed with the Mets in the offseason. But some small part of it was likely also because, after weeks of horrific struggles for the team, they now had what seemed to be a pretty secure lead.

But if there’s one thing we know about this Mets team right now, it’s that their starting pitchers are deeply, powerfully, utterly obsessed with A) not doing deep into games, and B) surrendering leads. So it should come to nobody’s surprise that Holmes did not manage to hang onto the four-run lead that he was given. He had managed to induce double plays to get of jams in the second and third innings (with the latter one being the result of some poor baserunning on the Braves’ part), but allowing baserunners had been an issue for him on all night, and it came back to bite him in a big way in the top of the fourth. After recording the first out of the frame, Holmes proceeded to load the bases on two singles (one on a groundball that bounced off the glove of a diving Lindor) and a walk. Nacho Alvarez Jr. then proceeded to hit a line-drive double to left, scoring two runs and cutting the lead to 5-3. Holmes then issued yet another walk (his fifth in less than four innings) to load the bases once more. Profar followed that with a groundball to second that McNeil bobbled slightly; he still managed to get the out at second, but another run scored to make it 5-4. At this point, Carlos Mendoza had Gregory Soto warming in the bullpen, but he elected to allow Holmes to face the lefty-hitting Olson with two outs. That proved to be a mistake, as Olson hit a double to left field to drive home the tying run.

With that, Holmes’s day was finally done—and his line (3.2 innings, 6 hits, 5 walks, 4 strikeouts, 5 runs) was about as ugly as can be. In a stretch where the Mets have been incapable of getting any hint of length from the starting rotation, tonight’s performance was the last thing they needed. The team has already announced that they are moving one of the primary culprits of the rotations’ inefficiency (that being Frankie Montas) to the bullpen, and outings like this will only serve to raise the question of whether they should follow suit with Holmes. In any event, Soto came on and managed to record the final out of the inning to keep his final line from being worse.

Over the past week of horrible games, it has often felt like the Mets—when suffering from a disastrous inning like this one—would quickly roll over and die. One could be forgiven from believing the bats would once again roll over against the Braves’ pitching staff tonight. But after Strider recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the fourth, Lindor—trying to break out of a slump—laid down a perfect bunt for a hit. Juan Soto then walked to put two runners on. And Nimmo—eager to try to maintain pace with Alonso on the all-time Mets homers list—hit a shot of his own to right-center field, driving in three and giving the Mets the lead once more. Strider got Alonso to fly out to end the inning, but that would prove to be the end of his night. And as bad as Holmes’s final line looked, Strider’s somehow proved to be even worse (4 innings, 8 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 8 runs).

Gregory Soto came back on for the top of the fifth and got around a couple singles to put up a scoreless frame. Austin Cox was called upon out of the Braves bullpen in the bottom of the inning. And once again, the Mets managed to do some two-out damage. After Cox struck out the first two batters, Mullins lined a ball into center and hustled into second for a double. Alvarez then traded places with him on the bases, lining a double off the wall in right-center to score another run. And then for good measure, Brett Baty hit a ground ball up the middle that just snuck past a diving Nick Allen, bringing Alvarez home to make it 10-5.

Now working with a slightly larger lead, Mendoza brought on Justin Hagenman for the top of the sixth to get some length out of the pen. He threw a sterling 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts in his first inning of work. And in the bottom of the frame, the Mets once again struck against Cox with two outs (in case you hadn’t noticed, each and every one of their runs up to this point had come with two outs). And once again, it was Pete Alonso doing the damage, as he hit a two-out shot to left-center field to pad his lead on the all-time Mets list with #254. Then after another scoreless inning inning from Hagenman, the Amazins added even more two-out runs against Cox in the seventh—once again with some solo homers, these ones off the bat of Alvarez (his second of the night) and Baty. Those two shots—which gave the Mets six on the night, tying a home franchise record—put the lead at 13-5.

Things were dire enough for the Braves at this point that Luke Williams—a position player, for those keeping track at home—was brought on to pitch at this point. He proved to be the most effective pitcher for the Braves all evening, as he got out of the seventh and then came back to pitch a scoreless eighth while only surrendering two singles. But that proved to be of little import, as Hagenman continued to perform admirably as the long-man out of the pen. He pitched yet another scoreless frame in the eighth and then came on for the rare four-inning save in the ninth. He shut the Braves down 1-2-3 in that final frame to end the game. And while today will always be remembered as the Pete Alonso game, Hagenman’s four hitless innings to preserve the bullpen should not go unnoticed (especially considering he’s likely to be thanked for his trouble by being optioned to Syracuse in favor of a fresh arm tomorrow).

In any event: it’s over. “It” being both the seven-game losing streak and Darryl Strawberry’s reign as the all-time leader in home runs for the Mets. As we said at the top: the Mets needed this one. We needed this one. Back at it tomorrow.

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Win Probability Added​

chart-28-1.png

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Brandon Nimmo, +30.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Clay Holmes, -37.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: -23.1% WPA
Mets hitters: +73.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brandon Nimmo three-run homer in the fourth, +30.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Nacho Alvarez Jr. two-run double in the fourth, -16.7% WPA
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...agic-leads-to-13-5-shellacking-against-braves
 
Open thread: Mets vs. Braves, 8/13/25

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Mets lineup​

  1. Francisco Lindor – SS
  2. Juan Soto – RF
  3. Brandon Nimmo – LF
  4. Pete Alonso – 1B
  5. Jeff McNeil – 2B
  6. Starling Marte – DH
  7. Cedric Mullins – CF
  8. Francisco Alvarez – C
  9. Brett Baty – 3B

David Peterson – LHP

Braves lineup​

  1. Jurickson Profar – LF
  2. Matt Olson – 1B
  3. Marcell Ozuna – DH
  4. Ozzie Albies – 2B
  5. Sean Murphy – C
  6. Michael Harris – CF
  7. Eli White – RF
  8. Nacho Alvarez – 3B
  9. Nick Allen – SS

Carlos Carrasco – RHP

Broadcast info​


First pitch: 7:10 EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App 92.3 HD2
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...ast-how-watch-open-thread-new-york-atlanta-25
 
Everything continues to be the absolute worst, Mets lose to Braves 4-3

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When a team is in the midst of a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad stretch like the one the Mets are currently enduring, it’s impossible to pin the blame on just one player or even one group of players. A streak like the one we’re watching is the result of every single player group on the team failing to perform their roles adequately, whether it’s the starting rotation being unable to pitch deep into games, the bullpen failing to hold onto leads, or the offense failing to build big leads or overcome deficits. We saw some combination of these factors tonight as the Mets once again lost a thoroughly winnable game and fell 4-3 to the Braves to lose the series against their division rivals.

Tonight’s game featured a matchup between Kodai Senga—who has struggled since returning from the injured list last month—and Bryce Elder. For much of the game, the two had pretty comparable performances. The Mets had an early chance to score against Elder in the first after Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo had back-to-back one-out hits to put runners at the corners, but Pete Alonso grounded into a double play to end the threat. Elder induced another double play in the third—this one off the bat of Luis Torrens following a lead-off walk to Brett Baty—but Francisco Lindor followed that one with a solo homer to right field for the first run of the ball game. Alas, Senga quickly gave up the lead in the next inning, surrendering a solo homer to Ozzie Albies with two outs to tie the game.

Beyond those two hits, both pitchers largely held the opposing offenses in check for the first five innings of the night. Senga even threatened to accomplish a feat that has been utterly impossible for any non-David Peterson starter in the past two months: making it through the sixth. He came on to start the sixth, but issued a walk to the lead-off batter. Senga recorded the next two outs, but then surrendered a two-out single to Michael Harris II to put runners on first and third, and Carlos Mendoza decided that today would not be the night in which the impossible feat of a starting pitcher going six innings occurred. He lifted Senga and brought in Tyler Rogers, who did what he does best and induced soft contact against Albies. Alas, that soft contact hit dropped in front of Nimmo in left, and Albies had himself his second RBI of the night. More importantly, the Braves now had a 2-1 lead.

But the Mets came fighting back in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Lindor—who has suddenly been looking hot at the plate after weeks of struggles—lined a single to left. He then swiped second and advanced to third when Drake Baldwin’s throw went into the outfield, after which Elder pitched around Soto to walk him and put runners on the corners. Nimmo followed that by lining a ball to Profar in left on a ball that was just deep enough to score Lindor from third. The sacrifice fly tied the game, and with Alonso up, Soto then swiped second for the second stolen base of the inning (this was also the 36th consecutive stolen base by the Mets without getting caught, setting an all-time franchise record). As was the case with Lindor, the steal proved to be incredibly important, as Alonso then hit a ground ball just past a diving Nick Allen at shortstop to score Soto and give the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Rogers came back on and tossed a scoreless seventh, and after the Mets failed to score in the bottom of the frame, Mendoza called upon Ryan Helsley to pitch the eighth. We haven’t been able to see it quite as much as we might have hoped, but this general gameplan—starter pitches just well enough, and the Rogers/Helsley combo helps to bridge the game to Edwin Díaz in the ninth—is exactly what the Mets envisioned following the trade deadline. Alas, Helsley did not live up to his end of the deal tonight. He issued a one-out walk to Marcell Ozuna, who was quickly replaced by Eli White as a pinch-runner. Harris then hit a line drive to center that got past Cedric Mullins, allowing White to score from first to tie things up once more. And once again, the tie did not last for long, as Albies—who had already done his share of damage against the Mets tonight—hit a ball off the right field wall. Soto deked Harris at second and could perhaps have had a play at the plate if he’d thrown the ball to the cutoff man, but instead he threw the ball to second to try to nab Albies. He did not, and Harris came around to score the go-ahead run to make it 4-3 Braves.

Still, it was just a one-run deficit, and the Mets had two more innings to try to rally once more. But we’re also talking about a team that has not won a single game in which they trailed after eight innings all year, a team that has seemingly been allergic to dramatic victories in recent weeks. So it should come to the surprise of no one that they once again failed to do it tonight. A one-out Lindor single in the eighth against Dylan Lee may have given one the hopes that the dramatic moment might be coming, but Soto struck out swinging and Nimmo grounded out to end the inning. Díaz came on for the ninth and tossed a perfect frame, and the Mets once again had the chance to win against Raisel Iglesias, who has had a thoroughly mediocre season. But because these are the Mets he was facing, it took him just seven pitches to retire the side and secure the series victory for the Braves.

The Phillies also lost tonight, in case you were wondering, so the Mets once again missed out on an opportunity to gain some ground in the NL East race. More importantly, they’re now just a half game ahead of the Reds for the final wild card spot, and it’s probably past time that we stop taking it for granted that the Mets will even remain in a playoff spot given how they have played. So… I don’t know. There’s just not much else to say about any of this. Everybody needs to be better. And with the red-hot Mariners coming into town this weekend, it’s not going to get any easier.

SB Nation GameThreads​


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Win Probability Added​

chart-29.png

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +30.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Ryan Helsley, -47.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -32.6% WPA
Mets hitters: -17.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso RBI single in the sixth, +17.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Michael Harris II RBI double in the eighth, -29.7% WPA
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...be-the-absolute-worst-mets-lose-to-braves-4-3
 
The Mets hope to break their rusty cage and run against the Mariners

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The New York Mets (64 -57) host the Seattle Mariners (67-55) for a (sort of) three-game home series. The first two games will be played at Citi Field with the third being the annual ‘Little League Classic,’ taking place in Williamsport, Pennsylvania with the Mets as the home team.

Last week, there were serious conversations about which part of the Mets’ roster was in more trouble: the tepid offense or the sluggish pitching. Since their trip to Milwaukee, the Mets have scored 31 runs in six games, which is certainly a good sign that, perhaps, the bats are starting to wake up. However, the Mets have only won one of those games, and led in all six. Even in their lone victory, the Mets blew a 5-1 lead before eventually slugging their way to a 13-5 win.

The Brewers are the best team in baseball right now, and while it would’ve been nice for the Mets to take a game or two at American Family Field, it is hardly shocking that Milwaukee spanked them. But the Braves are having a bad season, perhaps one of the worst of their 21st century. And the Mets couldn’t hold a lead against them this series, and saw the pitching staff continue to flail in what is looking like one of the worst second half collapses in recent memory.

Also troubling is the fact that pitchers like David Peterson, who has been steady all season, and Ryan Helsley, who was traded to bolster the bullpen, have begun to falter as well. In fact, only two of the losses of the month has been chalked up to a pitcher who hadn’t been having good seasons in Frankie Montas and Ryne Stanek. Montas, thankfully, has been moved to the bullpen in a long-relief role and Stanek continues to tumble down the depth chart of high leverage relievers.

But the biggest issue with the pitching staff has been the absolute dearth of long outings from the Mets’ starters. Before Kodai Senga went five and two-thirds in last night’s loss to the Braves, the Mets hadn’t had a starter record an out in the fifth inning since Senga went five and a third nearly a week earlier. Peterson still remains the only Mets’ starter to go six full innings this season.

We will talk about Nolan McLean’s MLB debut below, but he’s the first sign of the Mets trying to change up their approach to, hopefully, stop the skid that has taken over the summer of 2025. With Montas relegated to the bullpen, there are still some lingering questions about the pitching staff. Clay Holmes has run out of steam very early in his last few starts, and the questions of his (seemingly inevitable) trip to the bullpen continue. Paul Blackburn just rejoined the team after a lengthy rehab assignment on Tuesday, and gave up two runs in a lopsided loss. Will Blackburn be DFA’d to make room for McLean on Saturday? If not, who will be the casualty?

And while the offense has been better as of late, there are still questions about the effectiveness of the Mets’ current strategy under hitter coach Eric Chavez. Would a mid-season change light a spark under the bats, or would it be change for change’s sake? The Mets may need to slug their way to victories if they’re going to win this weekend, and while that potential is there (as they hit six home runs on Tuesday night), the inconsistency is still a serious problem.

With playoffs still (barely) in the picture, the Mets cannot let this skid continue. How dramatic will the team get with their roster changes? How much can they really do?

While the Mariners lost two of three games to the Orioles this week, their August looks about as different from the Mets’ as possible. Bolstered by the re-acquisition of Eugenio Suarez, the M’s have been on an absolute tear, going 9-3 and winning series against the Rangers, White Sox, and Rays.

Seattle begins the series 1.5 back of the Astros for first place in the AL West, and are sitting 2.5 games up in the Wild Card race. One ray of hope for the Mets is that the Mariners have been substantially better at home than on the road, but at .500 away, they’re not exactly at an automatic disadvantage or anything of the like.

But if the Mets are truly a playoff team, they need to beat teams like the Mariners sometimes. This team is good, yes, but they’re not the ‘27 Yankees or the ‘01 Mariners. Something has got to give with the Mets sooner or later; let’s hope it is sooner.

Friday, August 15: Sean Manaea vs. Luis Castillo, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY​


Manaea (2025): 27.0 IP, 30 K,6 BB, 4 HR, 4.33 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 107 ERA-

The return from the IL seemed like it was going smooth for Manaea until his last two starts. Nine earned runs over nine and two-thirds innings, with neither start getting through the fifth inning is not ideal, especially from the guy whose return was supposed to signal the start of the season’s turnaround. Manaea still is finding his post-injury form, but the Mets could really use him to find it sooner than later.

Castillo (2025): 138.1 IP, 120 K, 37 BB, 15 HR, 3.19 ERA, 3/72 FIP, 84 ERA-

A steady hand since landing in Seattle, Castillo’s strikeout rate is down this season, but his game hasn’t suffered from it, flashing his lowest ERA in three seasons. Looking at his game logs for the season, Castillo is exactly the type of pitcher the Mets have been missing to complement David Peterson: a guy who’s almost always going to give you six innings and keep the team in the game.

Saturday, August 16: Nolan McLean vs. Bryan Woo, 4:10 PM EDT on PIX11​


McLean (2025, AA/AAA): 113.0 IP, 127 K, 50 BB, 8 HR, 2.45 ERA

One of the bright spots in the Mets’ minor league system this year, McLean has had a truly impressive year. Over his 21 starts in the minors, he’s only allowed four or more earned runs twice, and has struck out at least four in every start. A first start is always nerve wracking, so expect the adrenaline to be flowing at Citi.

Woo (2025): 146.0 IP, 145 K, 26 BB, 22 HR, 3.08 ERA, 3.68 FIP, 81 ERA-

If Woo could limit his home runs, he’d be having an even better season than he already is. Woo gave up four dingers to the Athletics in his last start in July, and he’s averaging 1.4 HR/9, which is troublesome. But he’s striking out a ton of batters and a .377 slugging against shows that he’s not getting shelled when the ball stays in the park. But for a team with a lot of home run potential, the Mets may be able to feast on Woo.

Sunday, August 17: Clay Holmes vs. George Kirby, 7:10 PM EDT on ESPN​


Holmes (2025): 126.0 IP, 101 K, 52 BB, 12 HR, 3.71 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 92 ERA-

Holmes hasn’t recorded an out in the sixth inning since July 19th and hasn’t made it out of the fourth in two of his last three starts. The wear and tear from doubling his innings count from last year isn’t going to go away, and it seems like only a matter of time before he joins his former rotation mate Frankie Montas in the bullpen. But the Mets think he can still start and whether that is a sunk cost/cope situation or they are seeing good things is still up for debate.

Kirby (2025): 85.0 IP, 90 K, 20 BB, 9 HR, 3.71 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 97 ERA-

Kirby is currently in his best stretch of the season, with his last four starts all being at least six innings with two earned runs or fewer and at least six strikeouts. Kirby gets a lot of ground balls and manages to avoid hard contact and free passes, so he continues Seattle’s rotation trend of dependability and lack of meltdown-type performances.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/mets-s...lean-manaea-holmes-castillo-woo-suarez-alonso
 
Help!

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I need somebody
(Help!) not just anybody
(Help!) you know I need someone
(Help!)

When the season was younger, so much younger than today
We never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now those days are gone, I’m not so self-assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind please close the bullpen doors

Help me if you can, we’re feeling down
And I do appreciate your being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?

And now the season has changed in oh so many ways
Any lead seems to vanish in the haze
But every now and then I feel so insecure
I know that we just need a win like we’ve never done before

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?

When the season was younger, so much younger than today
We never needed anybody’s help in any way
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self-assured
Now I find I’ve changed my mind please close the bullpen doors

Help me if you can, we’re feeling down
And I do appreciate your being ’round
Help me get my feet back on the ground
Won’t you please, please, help me?

Help me, help me, ooh

The Mets blew another one this time to the tune of a 11-9 loss to the Mariners. Sean Manaea got the start and kept giving up runs but shockingly enough the offense managed to overcome that. Francisco Lindor hit two home runs and Juan Soto went back-to-back with him in the fourth inning to give the Mets the lead. But no leads matter right now because it’ll eventually disappear it’s just a matter of when and who. First Tyler Rogers gave up a run to cut the lead to one and then Ryan Helsley and Brooks Raley combined to thoroughly pulverize the lead. Helsley gave up two runs in a third of an inning, then Raley followed that poor performance with a sour note of his own. He managed to be even worse by giving up three runs in a third of an inning. Ryne Stanek stopped the madness that inning but then fresh to the bullpen Frankie Montas gave up another run in the eighth.

Francisco Alvarez made it interesting with a three-run home run in the bottom of the inning but ultimately it did not matter since this team still does not have a comeback victory when trailing in the eighth inning.

With a long and winding road to October, this team needs to come together in order to get back to the playoffs. They did get some help from their friends in the Brewers who came back from an 8-1 deficit to defeat the Reds so the Mets remain in a playoff spot for one more day. If they miss the playoffs entirely this team will have to carry that weight through the offseason and I’ve got a feeling some major changes will be made. But hey at least the offense showed up. That’s something.

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Box scores​


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Win Probability Added​

chart-2025-08-15T221826.000.png

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor +45.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Brooks Raley -40.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: -90.5% WPA
Mets hitters: +40.% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor home run in fourth
Teh sux0rest play: Eugenio Suarez RBI double in seventh
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...atles-new-york-seattle-manaea-bullpen-helsley
 
Nolan McLean promoted; Paul Blackburn designated for assignment

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Ahead of his big league debut this afternoon against the Mariners, the Mets promoted Nolan McLean from Triple-A Syracuse. In a corresponding move, Paul Blackburn was designated for assignment. Blackburn will have to pass through waivers to remain in the Mets organization.

McLean, 24, has been a standout pitching prospect for the Mets this season after establishing himself as one of the rising stars in the system in 2024. He was named the fifth best Mets prospect by Amazin’ Avenue in the offseason. He’s tossed a 2.45 ERA across 113 innings for Binghamton and Syracuse and has struck out 127 while walking 50 in that timespan.

Blackburn, who the Mets acquired from the Athletics at the 2024 trade deadline for Kade Morris, has had a rough go as a Met. Injuries landed him on the IL for a big chunk of the year or so he was in blue and orange, and he had just recently fought his way back to the MLB roster when he was DFA’d. In his only game since being recalled, he tossed five innings of two run, one hit ball after David Peterson had a tough start against the Braves. It was the type of performance that your team needs after a short start, and Blackburn delivered. His six-pitch mix made him an interesting arm in the Mets’ system, but his lack of options and the crowded pitching picture left him without a natural spot. The Mets were reportedly trying to move Blackburn at the trade deadline last month, aware of his difficulty in finding a roster spot, but could not find any takers.

If Blackburn wasn’t going to be the roster casualty for McLean, the only other viable option on the table was Reed Garrett, who still has options remaining. However, Garrett has been more effective in high leverage situations in short bursts than Blackburn, so he gets to stay. This is compounded by the fact that Frankie Montas, due to his total inability to stick as a starter, is now in the bullpen and is taking the role that Blackburn would be best suited for at the moment.

With so many uncertainties with the Mets’ roster at the moment, Garrett may still spend some time in Syracuse if the Mets decide to move Clay Holmes to the bullpen or if the upcoming stretch of 16 games without an off-day requires a sixth starter. Things will get a little easier on September 1 when rosters expand to 28 players (with a 14 pitcher cap), but until then, the Mets are going to have to make some tough decisions for the fringes of their roster.
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Source: https://www.amazinavenue.com/new-yo...aul-blackburn-dfa-promotion-triple-a-pitching
 
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