For the first time since Sept. 2009, the New York Mets suffered 20 losses in a month. The Mets finished August 10-20 to fall even farther below .500 at 58-75 on the season.
Possibly the biggest culprit was a bad offense that scored only 117 runs and struck out 24 percent of the time. The Mets wOBA of .300 was the third worst in the majors with only the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres below them.
It gets worse when you realize that four of the Mets top five offensive performers in the month; Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson, Rene Rivera and Michael Conforto have either been traded or shut down for the season.
Travis d’Arnaud was awful with an .547 OPS on the month, Juan Lagares hasn’t taken advantage of his opportunity with 16 strikeouts in 62 at-bats and somehow Asdrubal Cabrera led a team looking to build for the future in plate appearances.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
The Mets starting rotation had a 5.01 ERA in the month, eighth worst in the majors. Entire pitching staff is still walking the ballpark with 4.05 walks per nine innings for August, fourth worst in baseball.
Jose Reyes, Matt Reynolds and Travis Taijeron are playing in the outfield, that’s a scary thought for an already struggling pitching staff.
It’s very tough to come up with bright spots on this Mets roster right now and the organization as a whole with the season spiraling down even darker on a seemingly daily basis.
Kevin Plawecki has looked like a different hitter since his recall, though it’s a small sample size. Amed Rosario has shown off some pop. AJ Ramos has pitched well after a few bumpy appearances to start his Mets career.
Hopefully Noah Syndergaard comes healthy in September, maybe the fastball velocity for Jeurys Familia will return this month, possible that things start clicking offensively for Dominic Smith.
Those are things, as Mets fans, we’re left hoping for in September of a lost season.
