TO THE BATMOBILE
Despite deGrom’s brilliance, Harvey still gets call as Mets’ ace
Terry Collins grumbled Sunday that the Mets were not happy to go into the All-Star break just five games above .500 (52-47) and two games behind the Nats in the NL East. The Mets manager felt they should be in better shape, but looking at what he had to work with, his club is not in a bad place to start the second half.
Consider, the Mets lost the anchor of their lineup (David Wright), their most dangerous bat (Travis d’Arnaud), their most reliable hitter (Daniel Murphy), and lefty specialist (Jerry Blevins) to injury, and saw closer Jenrry Mejia get suspended for 80 games. They went 15-28 on the road and have jerked their starters from a five-man to a six-man rotation twice.
Still, they enter the second half with a very good chance to end a run of six straight losing seasons and still have the Nationals and their much talked-about playoff prospects within their sights.
FIRST-HALF MVP
Jacob deGrom. Righty has proven that his Rookie of the Year award last season was no fluke. The Mets’ lone All-Star overcame a rough patch early to finish the first half 9-6 with a 2.14 ERA. Despite being quiet and the fact that he admittedly would rather avoid the ace designation, deGrom has been one.
FIRST-HALF FLOP
Lucas Duda. First baseman ended the first half with a bang, hitting two homers in three games before the break after going 18 contests and 66 at-bats without one. After Duda set career highs with 30 homers and 92 RBI last season, his first half was disappointing. He struggles against lefties and while he has seemingly turned that around, hitting .305 with five homers against southpaws in 89 at-bats, he is hitting just .218 against righties.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
Jeurys Familia. Mejia had always been considered a closer of the future, but when he was suspended 80 games for steroids, Familia took over and thrived, with 27 saves in 29 chances.
Familia is the first Mets closer to notch his 22nd save before the 81st game of the season and joined Francisco Rodriguez as the only Mets with 21 saves before July 1.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Michael Cuddyer. Was brought in to bolster the lineup, but with injuries to Wright and others, he had to move into a bigger role and has faltered. At the break, Cuddyer is last among qualified National League left fielders in on-base percentage (.294) and OPS (.661). He is last in batting average (.244) and ninth in home runs (seven) and eighth in RBI (29). Perhaps most troublesome for the 36-yearold is that he leads all qualified NL left fielders with 72 strikeouts in 283 at-bats. That contrasts greatly with his 2013 season, in which he won the NL batting title (.331) while striking out 100 times in 489 at-bats.
BEST MOMENT
Steven Matz’s debut. The lefty held the Reds to two runs on five hits over 7.2 innings in his major-league debut, but everyone will remember his three hits and four RBI. The 24-year-old lifelong Mets fan became the only pitcher and the 26th player in the last 100 years to have four RBI in his major-league debut. And what could top watching his grandfather’s reaction that day?
WORST MOMENT
David Wright going down eight games into the season. The Mets waiting for their third baseman to be healthy has become an all-too common theme in Queens in recent years. After playing eight games, Wright was sidelined by a hamstring injury that was eventually revealed to be a serious back issue: lumbar spinal stenosis. He has spent more than two months in Los Angeles working with a spinal specialist and is still not cleared to be on the field. There are people in the organization wondering if he will return this season and at what level.
With Wright — and d’Arnaud — out of the lineup, the Mets have struggled offensively. They are dead last in the majors with a team batting average of .233, 29th in OPS (.660), 28th in runs scored (310) and 26th in on-base percentage (.298).
BEST DECISION
Moving Wilmer Flores to second base. After spending the offseason looking for an upgrade over Flores at shortstop, Sandy Alderson spent the spring and most of the first half stubbornly watching as Flores struggled. When the offense fell apart and the Mets’ spectacular pitching was undermined by the team’s poor defense, Flores was moved to second in the 77th game of the season. In 13 games as the Mets’ starting second baseman, Flores has not committed an error and is hitting .306.
WORST DECISION
Sandy Alderson’s indecision. From failing to move Dillon Gee in the offseason to jerking the starters between a six-man and five-man rotation and back again, and letting the offense falter throughout June without bringing in help, the indecisive Alderson has left the Mets confused and understaffed. The GM’s plan to rebuild with young arms is coming to fruition, but the pitching the Mets have put out there deserves consistency and help. If the six-man rotation was the plan all along, the Mets should have prepared their starters for it in spring training, and now they should stick with one plan for the rest of the season.
This offseason and spring, the front office has been the picture of indecision; with the Mets’ pitching keeping this team within striking distance, Alderson owes it to the club to make a move for a bat, make a decision on the rotation and pull the trigger on both decisively.