3 UP

1. Scooting the Offense Along

Michael Conforto had a four game hitting streak where he is 6-for-15 at the plate with a double, three homers, and six RBI with five walks. It’s not just the hits, but it is the big plays with him.

On Tuesday, he started a key fifth inning rally with a lead-off walk, and he would score what was then the go-ahead run. The Mets didn’t score again until the 11th with him and Jeff McNeil hitting huge homers.

On Wednesday, Conforto again started a key rally with a lead-off walk. In the sixth, the Mets finally broke through with a rally against Lucas Giolito. Conforto not only drew the lead-off walk, but he would also slide to avoid James McCann‘s tag. Later, in the ninth, he would provide needed insurance runs with two out bases loaded single.

When the Mets weren’t scoring in the series, he was putting them in a position to score. When they were rallying, he provided the big hit.

2. To the Left, to the Left

If you want to look at one of the reasons why the Mets are on a winning streak, look no further than the left side of the Mets infield.

Amed Rosario‘s 149 wRC+ in July was the best among National League shortstops, and his 0.7 fWAR over the month was the third best among National League shortstops.

While there has been a lot of focus on Rosario, and rightfully so, Todd Frazier has been hot at the plate as well. Frazier had a six game hitting streak where he was 8-for-21 at the plate with two doubles, a homer, five RBI, and three walks.

Not only have the combination hit well at the plate, they have also played well in the field. With Frazier, that has been a given, but with Rosario, that has not always been the case. He has only made two errors since May 8, and he has been a 1 DRS in July.

While their offensive production has been important, their defense has been equally so, and it will be all the more with the Mets acquiring Marcus Stroman.

3. Three of a Kind

Jacob deGrom pitched like the pitcher he was last year. When the White Sox had him on the ropes, he minimized the damage. When his slider wasn’t working he used his four seamer. When all was said and done, he allowed just one earned over seven innings with 11 strikeouts. As noted on Mets Daddy, deGrom now finds himself pushing for a second straight Cy Young.

Noah Syndergaard is also on a great stretch. He has pitched 7+ innings in each of his last four starts striking out eight plus in each of them with him striking out a season high 11 on Tuesday.

Then, there was Zack Wheeler, who made the Mets very happy they kept him at the deadline. He allowed just four hits while striking out seven in 7.0 innings in his second start since coming off the IL.

In total, Mets starters are dominating as a group in a way we haven’t seen since 2015. Like in 2015, when you get depth from your starters like that, your bullpen looks so much better.

3 DOWN

1. Freezing Polar Bear

July has been the worst month of Pete Alonso‘s career with him hitting .177/.333/.430. In his brief career, it was the worst batting average, SLG, and OPS out of any month. Even with him having a pattern of a great month followed by a bad month so far this year, there are too many conclusions to be drawn about his July production.

On the bright side, the Mets are winning despite his being mired in this slump. That said, sooner or later the team is going to need him. If the Mets want to win, they are going to need Alonso to pick things back up.

That doesn’t apply just to the Mets winning, but also to Alonso’s chances of winning the National League Rookie of the Year award. During this slump, Alonso’s WAR has dropped to 3.6 while Padres rookie Fernando Tatis Jr. ‘s WAR is now up to 3.7.

2. Uneasy Edwin

Recently, Mike Puma of the New York Post reported the Mets had concerns the Mariners overused Edwin Diaz last year. Despite those concerns, the Mets included Jarred Kelenic in a trade to get him in order to keep him away from the Phillies.

Who knows if we are seeing the effects of Diaz being over worked, the effects of bone spurs in his elbow, or something else all together? The fact is Diaz has not performed well as the Mets closer this season with his having a 5.14 ERA, 1.452 WHIP, and an 80 ERA+.

In his last three appearances, Diaz has allowed three earned over 2.2 innings. That includes his allowing two homers. On that front, the nine homers he has allowed is four more than he allowed all of last year, and it is one off of his career worst in 2017.

In the Mets history, there have been a number of closers who make you uneasy when they entered the game. It’s been part and parcel with position. The problem is Diaz was not supposed to be one of those guys.

3. Wilson Is Actually the Menace

Among qualifiers, Wilson Ramos is the worst catcher in the Major Leagues with a league worst 90 wRC+ and a league worst 0.0 fWAR. With Ramos, it is not just the bat, but it is also his work behind the plate with him having 10 passed balls and only having thrown out 15 percent of base stealers.

As we know, there is a lot more to catcher defense than passed balls and caught stealing percentage. It is how well a catcher actually receives the ball. For Ramos, he’s terrible at it. As noted by Mike Petriello of MLB.com, Ramos is the worst catcher in the Majors in receiving the low pitch.

Effectively speaking, this has taken away a big weapon in the Mets pitcher’s sliders and sinkers which had previously dominated with other catchers behind the plate. As a result, we see pitchers like Diaz struggle, and we see Noah Syndergaard ask for a personal catcher. In the end, Ramos was just the wrong catcher for this team.

Just to rub salt in this wound, since Travis d’Arnaud joined the Rays, he has been the best hitting catcher in baseball with a 135 wRC+, and he has been the fifth best catcher in baseball with a 1.7 fWAR.