3 Up, 3 Down: Mets Take Nats Series Amid Sell-Off

There may be a sale going on in Queens, but that didn’t prevent the New York Mets from taking three out of four against the Washington Nationals. With reliever David Robertson and ace Max Scherzer dealt away, however, this series win served as a morale victory only with the season now officially a bust.

With more pieces likely to be traded away before the Trade Deadline on Tuesday, how many more series the Mets will take remains to be seen. While far from a perfect weekend, this could be as good as it gets the rest of the way.

3 Up

Peak Of His Powers

July has been a very good month for Justin Verlander. The ace has found a return to the very peak of his powers, looking like the juggernaut the Mets were happy to give a truckload of money to back in the winter. Verlander was dealing yet again Sunday, allowing just one run on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. It wasn’t as impressive as some of his other recent starts, but the righty was able to get the job done. That was an achievement in itself given the amount of trade gossip engulfing Verlander prior to him taking the mound.

It also proved to be a milestone day with Verlander picking up his 250th career win, which is a special achievement. The starter has now lowered his ERA to 3.15 on the season, while he’s allowed just seven runs in 42 1/3 innings for an ERA of 1.49 in his last seven starts. Whether or not Verlander is allowed to continue that hot streak as a Met remains to be seen, with the prospect of being dealt at the Trade Deadline still looming large.

Lefty Charm

The New York Knicks have spent decades searching for an elite point guard. The New York Jets have done the same when it comes to finding a franchise quarterback. While it hasn’t been years and years, the New York Mets have spent a considerable chunk of time trying to add a legit lefty arm that can help carry the bullpen. While the front office is a million miles away from ticking that box, they did at least see some improvement in that area during this series. Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn a save in Sunday’s win, allowing one walk and striking out three. The lefty was tasked with ninth-inning duties three nights in a row, and he emerged from this series with two saves. Boasting a 2.37 ERA on the year, on pace for a career-best, Raley may have also played his last game in a Mets uniform. He’s attracting a ton of interest prior to the Trade Deadline, per our own Michael Mayer.

If Raley is moved, then David Peterson would assume the mantle as the go-to lefty in the bullpen. The 27-year-old enjoyed a productive series, not allowing a run on three hits in two innings of work on Thursday. He followed that up with one run on one hit with two strikeouts on Sunday. The Mets need productive lefty arms in the bullpen, and they have two right now in Raley and Peterson.

Alonso, Lindor Powering Offense

We’ve spoken a lot about the fact that the stars on this team need to play to the back of their baseball cards in order for the Mets to have success. We’ve also spoken a lot about how this offense lives or dies with the likes of Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. That was proven throughout this series. Alonso, who has endured the most difficult year of his career so far, has begun to look more like himself, and that continued over the weekend. He went 4-for-15 with two homers and seven RBIs, reaching the 30 mark in homers for the third straight year.

As for Lindor, the shortstop was also productive in this series, going 6-for-16 with two home runs, a double, two walks and three RBIs. This team needs to finish strong down the stretch in order to inspire hope for 2024. Both Alonso and Lindor remaining hot at the plate will be key to that.

3 Down

Too Little, Too Late

You couldn’t blame any Met fan for wondering what the point was as they watched their team beat the Nats over the weekend. After all, the three wins came against a backdrop of two key pieces in David Robertson and Max Scherzer being dealt, with others likely to follow. The Mets are officially sellers, which means they have given up on a completely embarrassing bust of a season, and a routine series win over the lowly Nationals would have done little to soothe the feelings of anger, frustration and disappointment currently bubbling over in Queens. It didn’t help matters that the Rangers, the Braves, and the Blue Jays were all aggressive buyers over the weekend. That just added insult to injury to the fact that the Mets are stripping away pieces rather than adding legit weapons for a lengthy postseason run.

So Long, Farewell?

Sticking with the above sentiment, there was probably a little fear and some sadness mixed into the satisfaction of watching Justin Verlander earn his 250th career win on Sunday. After all, with the Trade Deadline on Tuesday, there is a strong possibility that the future Hall of Famer could be the second ace to be dealt out of town in a matter of days. After trading Max Scherzer to the Rangers on Saturday, multiple reports suggest the Mets are listening to offers on Verlander. If that happens, then the rest of the year will be a really painful slog, given the current state of this rotation.

Fallen Off A Cliff

The 2023 season has been a house of horrors for Carlos Carrasco. The latest nightmare took place on Saturday. On a day that ended with Scherzer being traded to the Rangers, Mets fans were given an unwelcome taste of the bleak times still to come this season thanks to another ugly start from Carrasco. The veteran endured a nightmare start to end all other nightmare starts as he gave up a season-high eight runs (six earned) in just two 1/3 innings. That put his team in a hole they were never able to climb out of, leading to an ugly 11-6 loss. Carrasco has been a hot mess all year long, and his ERA now stands at a bloated 6.40. He was booed as he left the game on Saturday, adding to what has been a difficult year all around.