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3 UP

Great Starting Pitching

While we justifiably focus on the trades Billy Eppler did not make, the game changing trade he did make was getting Chris Bassitt before the season started. Bassitt has been THE stabilizing force in this rotation.

The Mets hit the low point in their season losing their NL East lead before Bassitt took the mound. Bassitt responded with another great performance striking out 10 while allowing just one run over seven innings.

In the second half, Bassitt is 6-1 with a 2.28 ERA. He’s averaging over six innings per start with a 3.8 K/BB.

And yet, Bassitt isn’t close to the ace of this staff. Again, this is Jacob deGrom, the best pitcher in all of baseball.

We’re running out of ways to describe his greatness, but he’s not running out of ways to prove his greatness. DeGrom has six straight starts where he’s retired 12+ consecutive batters. No one has done that in over 40 years.

Switching It Up

This has arguably been the worst season of Eduardo Escobar‘s career. He’s dealt with injuries and had lost his starting job.

With the injuries, he got his job back with a chance to prove himself. He has a six game hitting streak where he’s 10-for-19 with three homers and six RBI. At a time when most bats have gone cold, he’s heating up.

Another switch-hitter turning it around now is Francisco Lindor. After an 0-for-22 stretch, he’s had a hit in six of his last nine games with three multi-hit games.

Lindor is one of the key bats in this lineup. When he’s hitting they’re winning.

He McCann Hit

By wRC+, Mets catchers have been the worst in baseball. They need more from all of them, and that goes double for James McCann.

Well, McCann is getting hot at the plate. Over his past eight games, he’s 7-for-20 (.350) with four walks (.458 OBP). With that, he’s able to turn the lineup over instead of being an automatic out.

If McCann continues to hit, that’s a game changer for this team. It would make the lineup deeper and can lead to more runs.

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3 DOWN

Injuries

Max Scherzer can say his injury is day-to-day and not week-to-week, but he’s going on the 15 day IL making it a week-to-week proposition. Hopefully, this is the Mets truly being cautious realizing the World Series is the real goal.

Making matters worse is Starling Marte getting hit on the hand leading to his suffering a non-displaced fracture of his right middle finger. While he is avoiding the IL for now, a broken middle finger will be an issue for him gripping and throwing the ball.

Yes, Lindor did play through a similar injury. However, remember, Lindor hit .210/.282/.360 for a month after suffering the injury.

Tai Wal

The heading is Tai Wal because with the Mets we’ve only seen Taijuan Walker in half a season. There were reasons for that last year, but maybe, this year, we just have to admit this is who he is.

Yes, Walker has blister issues, and he had gotten nicked up in his start against the Yankees. Still, he’s been struggling in the second half.

Through eight starts, he is 3-2 with a 6.25 ERA averaging under five innings per start. Mets need him to be better to hold onto this lead. They need him to be better to be ready for the postseason.

Unprecedented Losses

For the first time in baseball history, a team lost three straight games by 6+ runs to teams with 30 fewer wins. That’s completely and utterly unacceptable.

Until the doubleheader sweep, the Mets did seem in trouble. There were the aforementioned injuries. Pete Alonso was slumping and showing his frustration on tut field.

Buck Showalter‘s bullpen usage was growing problematic. Tommy Hunter pitched three times in four days. He tried to push Bryce Montes de Oca for two innings.

Mostly, the Mets lost their lead even if it was for roughly half-a-day. In the end, if the Mets don’t win the division, it may not be a collapse. After all, this team will win about 100 games.

That said, this September schedule is as easy as it gets, and the Mets entered the month with a three game lead. If they don’t win the division, it’s not about the Braves playing phenomenal baseball. It’s about them not beating teams they should’ve beaten easily.