3 UP

1. DeGrom To a T

After Jacob deGrom was done with the Braves, famed Mets killer Freddie Freeman would say, “That was Jacob deGrom to a T right there. In my opinion, he’s the best pitcher in baseball. He did it tonight again.”

Over eight innings, deGrom was certainly the best pitcher in baseball. he shut out and shut down the Braves. He allowed just three hits while striking out 10. He looked every bit like the deGrom he was last year. In fact, if you look at his performance since the beginning of May, he has been Cy Young caliber.

In that 10 start stretch, he has allowed two earned or fewer in nine of his 10 starts. He has struck out 26.7 percent of the batters he has faced and held opposing batters to a .256 wOBA. If you remove his one clunker against the Marlins in what was a rain soaked and delayed game, deGrom has a 1.95 ERA over this stretch.

Speaking of the rainy conditions, deGrom has learned from his earlier struggles and adapted. He would change up his normal pregame routine to get ready about an hour before the game. The end result was his stuff looking as good as it has ever looked.

2. Young Core Exceeding Expectations 

Perhaps the lone bright spot this year is how the young core is better than anyone could have imagined.

Pete Alonso went from a defensive liability to a 1 DRS while being second in the Majors in homers.

Jeff McNeil went from being just a second baseman to having a positive DRS at three different positions with a his being in the top 10 in batting average and OBP. There’s also

Dominic Smith went from complete bust to being one of the best players on the team.

Add in Michael Conforto playing very well and Amed Rosario making small incremental gains, and this young core has been better than the best case scenario. They are the sole reason the Mets are competitive, and it’s why you don’t tear this down completely.

3. Mets Direction Is Clear

One of the worst places to be as a baseball team is being in that limbo between contending and selling. As we’ve seen in years past, it has led to some horrific decisions like trading Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano or including Jason Bay in a deal for Steve Reed. The Mets aren’t close enough nor are they good enough to be in a position to make those types of mistakes.

Right now, we know this isn’t a full year down. It’s making moves like seeing what you can get for Zack Wheeler, Todd Frazier, or Jason Vargas. The only hope is whatever the trade it’s not just for a collection of right-handed relief prospects.

3 DOWN

1. The Bullpen Again

Seemingly, in each and every Mets series this season, the worst part of this team is the bullpen. They not only blow leads, but they also put games out of reach. For example, Jeurys Familia and Drew Gagnon turned a close 5-3 game, and they turned it into a 12-3 blowout loss.

The bullpen is so bad the Mets have little choice but to continue shuffling the deck chairs. The team traded for Brooks Pounders and his career 8.92 ERA. Familia was put on the IL, and Gagnon was designated for assignment. Stephen Nogosek and his minor league career 4.7 BB/9 was rushed to the majors. Chris Flexen has been converted to a reliever and rushed to the majors after just one relief appearance in Syracuse.

Things have gotten to the point where fans and clamoring for Cody Allen despite his fastball velocity and results having been in decline over the last four years to the point where he was released by the Angels due to his 6.26 ERA, 1.913 WHIP, and 1.45 K/BB.

To add salt to the wound, Anthony Swarzak pitched well against the Mets in this series. Even better, Swarzak has been the best reliever in the blockbuster deal with the Mariners.

2. Wheeler Needs To Be Better

This was supposed to be the year Zack Wheeler was supposed to emerge as a top end starting pitcher for a full season. Unfortunately, he has been the same maddening and inconsistent pitcher he has always been.

Over his last seven starts, he’s 2-3 with a 5.60 ERA. In moments like Tuesday when the Mets needed him to step up, he allowed five runs (four earned) over six innings. What made his start all the more troubling was the Mets rallied back from 2-0 to tie the game, and he immediately allowed the Braves to score three runs putting the team behind for good.

The good news for Wheeler is this is exactly in line with his career numbers. June is always his worst month. He then rebounds and puts together very good second halves much like he did last year. If that holds true, Wheeler is in line for a big second half. The question is whether Wheeler will be helping the Mets or some other team with that big second half.

3. Mets Not Defensive

The Mets are a National League worst -52 DRS. That’s a year off of them being the second worst team in the National League with a -121 DRS.

We saw this defense help derail Wheeler’s start, and with J.D. Davis incapable of fielding a routine fly ball, it helped derail Steven Matz‘s start. In some ways, defense was the difference in this series.

Overall, the two main things the Mets had to address this past offseason were the defense and, as noted above, the bullpen. Somehow, this current Mets regime made the Mets worse in both areas, and that, more than anything is why this Mets team was always going to be more pretender than contender.