There is Help on the Way for the New York Mets

A little less than a month ago, we were talking about the New York Mets’ plethora of riches and who would potentially be the odd-man-out of the club’s rotation.

Leading the charge, Kodai Senga looked primed to claim his second-career All-Star nod, thanks to a league-best 1.47 ERA. David Peterson was hot off going the distance for the first time in his career, throwing a complete game shutout against the Nationals on June 11.

The experiment with Clay Holmes as a starter was succeeding for the most part, all the while, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning were holding their own as back-end options. 

Moreover, the return of Frankie Montas seemed imminent, while Sean Manaea’s own return from injury seemed not too far beyond that of Montas.

On June 12, the Mets were an MLB-best 45-24. 

Since then, much has gone wrong in Mets-land, especially on the starting pitching front. Senga injured his hamstring while covering first base, and Tylor Megill was placed on the injured list with an elbow issue. 

David Stearns prepared for this. It is impossible to make it through 162 games without experiencing bumps and bruises, which is why Stearns built up depth in the offseason. However, then the depth started going down. Canning blew out his Achilles on June 26, before fellow depth option Paul Blackburn found himself back on the IL with a shoulder injury. 

Montas did make his return, to varying degrees of success (five scoreless innings in his season debut, but a six-run drubbing in a four-inning stint in Pittsburgh), but the Mets rotation is still a revolving door of whoever is capable of picking up a baseball. 

These concerns were on full display this past weekend, as New York bookended a Montas start with a pair of bullpen games against the Yankees. 

In the winter, Stearns’ ideal rotation looked something like: Senga, Manaea, Holmes, Peterson, Montas. As of July, those five are yet to take a turn through the rotation together, with Manaea having not thrown a pitch this year, and Senga still on the sidelines. 

Still, there is reason for optimism, both on the mound and in the lineup, with two waves of players returning to the big-league club in the coming weeks and months.

Stats and rankings taken prior to play on July 9.

Wave 0: Winker

This week was supposed to be a big one for the Mets, as they were set to receive reinforcments to the lineup, as well as the starting rotation.

The first piece of the puzzle that returned off the IL was Jesse Winker, who had been sidelined with an oblique injury since April. Unfortunately, Winker’s return may be short-lived, as he back tighened up yesterday and he was sent back to New York for imaging.

With the All-Star Break looming, there is a good chance that Winker will go back to the IL even if he is day-to-day, similar to how the Mets placed Starling Marte on the IL when they activated Winker, as their right-handed half of their supposed DH platoon is nursing a chronic knee injury that was barking.

For the time being, the Mets will continue to rely on their youth, as another young infielder returned to the show yesterday. Luisangel Acuña was recalled from Triple-A after spending just 17 days in the minors to bring some speed and versatility back to the Mets bench.

Acuña started four games in center field during his detour in Syracuse, adding those responsibilities to backing up every position on the infield. Acuña’s role as a bench piece is defined, the roles of Ronny Mauricio, Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are all very much up in the air.

The trio of former top prospects are getting the chance to receive the bulk of the playing time at second base and third base, with veteran Jeff McNeil flexing out to play center field more and more every week.

Now with DH at-bats open, those three could get some runway to play together, as the Mets await Marte and Winker’s return off the IL, and a trade deadline where a lot of decisions have to be made.

Wave 1: Sean Manaea, Kodai Senga

While there are plenty of questions in the Mets’ starting lineup, their starting rotation has been a much greater mystery as of late. That is why this weekend is so important, as the Mets are expecting the return of their top two starting pitchers (with all due respect to All-Star David Peterson).

Senga will make his return first tonight, where he looks to pick up where he left off a month ago, when he was a legitimate Cy Young candidate. Compared to last year’s midseason leg injury, Senga missed far less time, needing only one rehab start to get fine-tuned enough to feel ready to resume big league competition.

For Sean Manaea, the road to recovery has been much longer in his return from an initial oblique injury that took place back in spring training. Manaea reaggravated that oblique once and had to be shut back down, and then he missed a rehab start last week due to a bone spur in his elbow.

He threw 73 pitches in his final rehab start on Tuesday though, and is beginning his season on Sunday. Clay Holmes is expected to pitch in tandem with Manaea, as it was Holmes’ turn in the rotation, and they don’t want him to get too long of a layover with the All-Star break.

Manaea was nothing short of brilliant for the Mets last season, picking up Senga, who had a lost year, and establishing himself as the ace. He posted a 3.47 ERA in a career-high 181 ⅔ innings while punching out 184 batters to receive down-ballot Cy Young votes for the first time in his nine-year MLB career. 

In the second half, both Senga and Manaea should shoulder much of the load in the starting rotation, which has lost Canning for the season and will be without Megill for the foreseeable future. If they can provide consistent, quality innings for the Mets, it will allow President of Baseball Operations David Stearns to feel less deadline pressure to land a true ace.

Wave 2: Raley, Alvarez, Marte & More

With all the injuries that the orange and blue have taken recently, it is easy to forget that two of the biggest blows came early in the year when A.J. Minter and Danny Young both underwent season-ending surgeries in rapid succession. 

The two southpaw relievers going down left the Mets without a viable lefty reliever internally. Stearns has tried to piece things back together, with the acquisitions of Genesis Cabrera, Jose Castillo, and Richard Lovelady, among others, to little success. 

Wave 2 of the Mets’ notable returnees includes Brooks Raley, who had a sparkling 2023 season in Queens before spending much of the ‘24 season out with Tommy John surgery. Raley pitched to a 2.80 ERA in 54 ⅔ innings in 2023, after a strong showing in Tampa Bay the year prior. 

Raley’s rehab assignment has gone according to plan, as he has thrown eight scoreless innings while striking out 12 hitters. The plan is for Raley to pitch back-to-back days for the first time in Syracuse this weekend, and if all goes as planned, it sounds like he will return out of the break.

It sounds like Starling Marte will also return right out of the break, and there is every chance the Mets will get an even more significant contributor back next weekend as well.

Francisco Alvarez has been in Triple-A after a miserable start to his season got him sent down. The 23-year-old has displayed some power since being sent down, slugging four home runs, and with Luis Torrens’ offensive struggles, could be back in the fold soon.

Finally, New York can always look elsewhere to upgrade. With several holes in the bullpen and the bottom of the order looking like a serious area of concern, the Mets are expected to be busy at the upcoming trading deadline.

If they do not find anything at their price point on the trade market, Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat are a pair of starting pitching prospects that have excelled recently and are options to be promoted. 

Despite winning five of their last six, there is no doubt that the Mets have more questions to answer than they did five weeks ago. The trade deadline will bring great change across the league, but even without it, the Mets have help on the way, with more coming.