We’re almost halfway through the 2023 season, and the most expensive team in major league history is closer to the bottom than the top. After a disappointing 7-6 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday, the Mets and their nearly $500 million team finished with a 35-42 record (allowing for the luxury tax) to advance to the playoffs. is becoming less likely, and skepticism is growing. .
The Mets have won just five more games than the Washington Nationals, but the franchise is bogged down in rebuilding and is the only team to avoid bottom of the NL East so far. The Atlanta Braves won their fifth straight division title and are in first place again on Sunday, but still lead the Mets by 15 games.
Manager Buck Showalter also appeared to concede on Sunday that his team had limited options to turn things around. Entering the eighth inning with a 6-3 lead over the Phillies, the Mets endured a disastrous four runs with just one hit. Instead of using a good reliever to close out the game, Showalter turned to less established bullpen options as they’ve been overworked lately.
“It’s a frustration for the players and for everyone,” Showalter said after Sunday’s loss. “We shot all the bullets we had.”
Rookie left-hander Josh Walker had the bases loaded with two walks and one. Right-handed reliever Jeff Brigham has arrived with a big task on his shoulders. But Mets third baseman Brett Batty, 23, made a mistake throwing to second base, turning a potential double play into a score for the Phillies.
“There really is no excuse” Batty said. “That play had to happen 10 out of 10 times and it cost the game and it cost the series.”
The inning fell apart after that. With the bases loaded, Brigham walked Brandon Marsh and hit Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner to allow three more runs and give the Phillies the lead.
“Hopefully there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” Brigham said, adding, “There’s definitely a lot of pressure as the season progresses.”
The season is definitely overtaking the Mets. The roster, which includes star players Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, had just a 16 percent chance of making the postseason after Sunday’s loss, according to Fungrafics. Before the season, the Mets were expected to battle Atlanta for the NL East title and even a World Series spot.
“Usually this happens: we don’t play well and people lose their jobs,” said Lindor. told reporters over the weekend. “But I don’t see us as a team that sells out. We see us as a team that keeps fighting and it will be there. increase.”
If he continues to lose, he may not be in a position to add reinforcements before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Instead of targeting late-season additions, they may actually be looking to dump players and salaries to other teams with playoff hopes.
The only other option would be to ask billionaire owner Stephen A. Cohen to fix the Mets’ problems with a trade, which could further inflate the team’s player budget. , which already includes a record 40-man roster of $377 million and an estimated $105. Luxury tax fines are several million yen.
On Friday, the Mets made a modest move in either direction, trading veteran third baseman Eduardo Escobar to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for two potential pitchers.
Escobar, who was seen as a key player heading into last season, struggled this year, losing minutes to rookie Batty. However, in an effort to restore better pitching prospects to his contract, the Mets agreed to pay most of the remainder of Escobar’s $9.5 million salary. But the deal doesn’t immediately improve a pitching staff that entered Monday with the sixth-worst ERA of 4.65 in MLB.
Scherzer, 38, and Verlander, 40, both multiple-time Cy Young winners, have alternated between injuries and poor pitching. Rookie Kodai Senga performed better (3.52 ERA), but pitched only once a week in his first season out of Japan. The rest of the rotation — Carlos Carrasco, Tyler Megil and David Peterson — have struggled.
The starting rotation problem was exacerbated by a bullpen that had a season full of holes, including an injury to star closer Edwin Diaz. Showalter’s use of the bullpen didn’t help either. He didn’t use the Mets’ healthiest reliever, David Robertson, in the eighth inning when the game came up Sunday, and kept it in the ninth.
“You can’t pitch the same guys every night,” Showalter said Sunday, also turning down relief pitcher Adam Ottavino for a second straight night and Brooks Larry for a third. “I can’t do that. What else can I do?”
