The Mets’ bullpen churn has kicked into high gear as we head into the All-Star break, as evidenced by how many new names are on the meter this week. There are even more names (we hardly knew thee, Dan Hammer) who were shadow Mets who never got into a game and therefore don’t appear on the meter. The Mets’ pitching struggles continue, as the bullpen (with the exception of double fireball awardee Luke Weaver) has hit a rough patch. As for the rotation, Nolan McLean and Christian Scott have been its most consistent members of late, but Zach Thornton had his best start yet as a Met and may have earned himself more innings in the second half, especially if the Mets deal one or more of their pitchers at the deadline.
| Player | Last week | This week |
|---|---|---|
| Huascar Brazobán, RHP |  | |
| Xzavion Curry, RHP | — | |
| Joey Gerber, RHP | — | |
| Sean Manaea, LHP | | |
| Nolan McLean, RHP | |  |
| A.J. Minter, LHP | | |
| Tobias Myers, RHP |  | |
| Freddy Peralta, RHP |  | |
| Cionel Pérez, LHP | | |
| Brooks Raley, LHP | | |
| Christian Scott, RHP | | |
| Matt Seelinger, RHP | — | |
| Kodai Senga, RHP | | |
| Zach Thonton, LHP | — | |
| Austin Warren, RHP | |  |
| Luke Weaver, RHP |  | |
| Devin Williams, RHP | | |
| Guillo Zuñiga, RHP | — | |
Poor Zach Thornton. He pitched seven shutout innings against the Red Sox and was in line for his first big league win when Francisco Lindor booted a potential game-ending double play and the Red Sox went on to win. That doesn’t take anything away from Thornton, who yielded just two hits while walking two batters and striking out five. After a rough big league debut, he has now pitched two gems in his next two chances. He’ll probably start a lot more games for the Mets in the second half.
Devin Williams blew the save in the ninth in the final game before the break, costing Thornton the win. It’s true that he was let down by Lindor in the field, but he collapsed totally after the error, issuing two costly walks. Williams’ performance has been uneven of late. He pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation in the Mets’ series finale victory over the Royals, but had two consecutive outings in the Braves series in which he gave up at least one run. In the series finale in Atlanta, after Juan Soto’s clutch homer in the ninth gave the Mets the lead, Williams blew the save in the bottom of the frame, giving up a game-tying two-run homer to Matt Olson. Luckily for Williams and the Mets, they went on to win the game in extras. The day before, Williams found himself pitching in a game he did not expect to be pitching in, as the Mets almost blew a seven-run lead. Williams narrowly managed to protect it, but not without agita.
Williams found himself in that situation because Huascar Brazobán had his worst outing of the season thus far, giving up five runs in just a third of an inning, resulting in the Mets having to use Williams in a game they thought was well in hand. That outing heavily skews Brazobán’s ERA for this two-week span, which is ugly, but he did not give up any earned runs in any of his other three outings this month thus far. That doesn’t mean those outings were necessarily smooth though. In last Tuesday’s absolutely insane 16-12 loss to the Royals, after Austin Warren failed to retire a batter, Brazobán came in and allowed the tying runs to score, but those were charged to Warren. Warren was subsequently placed on the injured list with a forearm strain, which explains his poor outing. Brazobán went on to pitch a scoreless inning in the following frame when given a clean slate to work with, but he did have to navigate out of a jam to do so. He came back out to the mound two days later and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning ahead of Williams. He also pitched two thirds of an inning in relief of Freddy Peralta in Saturday’s loss to the Red Sox.
Freddy Peralta was sunk by walks on Saturday, issuing five of them in just 4 1/3 innings of work, over which he also struck out six. He only gave up two runs, but that was enough for him to get saddled with the loss, as the Mets were shut out that day. That outing is not really why he got a bad grade though. He got a bad grade because his outing in Toronto on Canada Day was quite bad. In that game, he was knocked around for five runs on seven hits in just four innings of work. “Not good,” Peralta said after that game. “I don’t feel good. But just trying to come back and make the adjustments.” Peralta also started the game in which the Mets eked out an extra-inning victory over the Braves. In that outing, he gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings, but only one of those three runs was earned. All told though, Peralta—who is supposed to be one of the Mets’ best assets to deal at the deadline—has struggled and his ERA north of 4.5 is one of the worst among qualified NL starters.
Kodai Senga’s struggles continue unabated as well. His first couple of outings of the month of July were rocky. In Atlanta, he gave up a solo homer to Matt Olson—Olson’s second of the game in what ended as a 5-3 loss for the Mets. He followed that up with a nightmarish three innings as the bulk guy against the Royals in last Tuesday’s rollercoaster game. He gave up four runs in three innings of work, putting the Mets in an early hole, which they would eventually climb out of and then some, only to give it all back again…and then some. But there appears to be some hope Senga will have utility as a one-inning reliever. In his most recent outing on Friday night in the series opener against the Red Sox, Senga was deployed for just one inning for the first time this season and he did pitch a scoreless frame with a strikeout. So there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel and a path forward for him to provide value for the Mets in the second half and perhaps carve out a different future for himself.
Cionel Pérez served as the opener for last Tuesday’s wacky game against the Royals and was one of the only pitchers not to be scored upon in a game that ended with double-digit run totals for both teams. Unfortunately the pitcher everyone will remember from that infamous affair is Matt Seelinger, who made his big league debut under very tough circumstances. Due to the ineffectiveness of Senga, Warren, and Brazobán, Seelinger came into a tie game the Mets had once led by a significant margin and got shelled in the seventh to the tune of seven runs and still had to go back out for another inning afterwards. Seelinger was designated for assignment after the game, but remains in the organization after clearing waivers. Cionel Pérez’s month of July so far has consisted of two good outings sandwiched between two poor ones. In Toronto, Pérez gave up four runs of insurance to the Blue Jays in the rubber game, effectively sealing the Mets’ fate. He then bounced back to pitch 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Peralta in Atlanta and served effectively as the opener ahead of Senga, but then in the series opener against the Red Sox, Pérez gave up two insurance runs in the ninth, only managing to record the first two outs before needing to be bailed out.
Xzavion Curry—one of the many new names on this meter—came in to record the final out of the ninth inning on Friday night. Curry also appeared in last Wednesday’s 6-2 victory over the Royals and allowed a run in the ninth, but luckily the Mets had broken out for a five-run eighth and he had a large lead to work with.
Joey Gerber was also back in the majors during this 13-game span. Freshly recalled from Triple-A, he appeared in the two losses the Mets took in Toronto, though neither was his fault. In the series opener, he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts to keep the Mets within a run and then in the Canada Day series finale, he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Pérez imploded. Things went less well for Gerber on Independence Day when he came into an already lopsided game and gave up three runs before Luis Torrens spared the rest of the bullpen by recording the final out of the laugher. Gerber was then optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.
Sean Manaea took the loss on July 4th in Atlanta, though he was far from the only culprit. Manaea gave up six runs in five innings of work, but only three of those runs were earned because of the comically bad defense the Mets played, including a miscommunication between Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Lindor that resulted in the ball evading both of them and the bases clearing. Manaea’s other two starts in the past two weeks were much better, though the Mets playing poor defense remained a theme across all three starts. In the series opener in Toronto, George Springer was credited with a triple on his Little League home run because the ball never touched Soto’s glove, but Soto’s miscue absolutely cost Manaea and the Mets a run, even though it goes on the ledger as earned. That was one of two runs Manaea gave up in 5 2/3 innings of work, striking out four and walking two. He took the tough luck loss on a day the Mets only scored one run. After two straight losses, he did finally earn a win against the Royals with a quality start in which he gave up just three runs—only two of them earned (thanks to the stellar Mets defense again)—in seven innings of work. He struck out six and walked only one in that outing.
Nolan McLean went through a rough patch, but has been a lot better lately. He pitched six shutout innings against the Blue Jays in the second game of that series and the only game the Mets won. He struck out seven in the outing and walked only two while scattering five hits. In fact, he gave up exactly five hits in each of his three starts in the past two weeks and all three were quality starts. He earned another win on July 5 in Atlanta in which the Mets hung on to win by the skin of their teeth. He gave up three runs—only two earned—in six innings of work, striking out five batters and walking one. But alas, he fell to .500 again on Friday despite a good outing. He gave up two runs, but neither of them were earned. Over six innings, he struck out seven and walked only two. But the Red Sox pulled away in the late innings.
Luke Weaver continues to be nothing short of spectacular—the lone shining light of stability in a bullpen full of meltdowns, blown saves, and a revolving door of new faces. Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief of McLean in Toronto, earning his tenth hold of the season. He then pitched on back-to-back days in Atlanta; he pitched a scoreless eighth inning on July 5 before the Mets took the lead in the ninth, only to nearly give it all back in the bottom of the inning. The next day he earned his first save of the season, working around two walks to hold the Braves to just the one run in the bottom of the tenth (scored by the ghost runner) to seal the victory. He also pitched as scoreless eighth inning in relief of Zack Thornton on Sunday before things went south for Devin Williams. Weaver ends the first half with a 1.85 ERA.
Brooks Raley took the loss on Sunday for giving up one unearned run in the tenth on a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly that scored the ghost runner. It was tough luck for Raley, who did his job, but the Mets were unable to do even the bare minimum in the bottom of the inning to keep the game going, so a loss on his ledger it was. Raley bounced back after a rough patch to end his first half on a high note. Tied for the most appearances of any Mets reliever over this 13-game span with six, Raley didn’t give up an earned run across 5 1/3 total innings of work in those appearances. Raley pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of McLean in Toronto to set the stage for Weaver and Williams. He also appeared in both victories in Atlanta with a scoreless seventh in relief of McLean again last Sunday. The next day after Williams blew the save in the ninth, Raley recorded a key final out to help send the game to extra innings and ultimately earned the win for doing so. Future Mets Sporcle answer Guillo Zuñiga appeared in that game as well, pitching a scoreless eighth inning and being thanked by being designated for assignment the next day. He was outrighted to Triple-A and is still in the organization. Raley earned another win for a scoreless eighth last Wednesday against the Royals, as the Mets went on to have a big inning in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding lead. Finally, Raley appeared in both Saturday and Sunday’s games against the Red Sox, contributing a scoreless innings to each of those ultimately losing efforts.
A.J. Minter, another lefty on an expiring contract and potential trade piece for the Mets, appeared in six games in the final two weeks of the first half as well. He pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings to finish off the Canada Day game in Toronto. He gave up a solo homer to Matt Olson in the series opener in Atlanta, but then rebounded to contribute a scoreless inning to the extra-inning victory in the finale. He pitched the ninth inning of the insane series opener against the Royals and his hitless frame stuck out like a sore thumb amongst a box score otherwise full of crooked numbers. He then appeared in each of the first two games in the Red Sox series and had mixed results. In the series opener, he gave up a two-run homer to Anthony Seigler in the seventh in relief of McLean that ultimately sealed that game. But the next day he pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts despite the Mets being shut out that day.
Christian Scott finished out a solid first half with a so-so start and a good one. In Atlanta, he lasted just four innings, giving up three runs and taking the loss. He struck out an impressive seven batters in that outing, but walked four. He followed that up with five shutout innings against the Royals in which he gave up just three hits, striking out five and walking one.
I hate to end on a bad note, but I think the Mets broke Tobias Myers, who gets poop emoji’d again. Scott didn’t earn the win for his five shutout innings because Myers blew the tenuous one-run lead in that game in the sixth. But he did come back out for the seventh and worked around a leadoff double to keep the game tied and the Mets would go on to win thanks to a big eighth inning. Myers pitched the final two innings of Saturday’s game against the Red Sox and they doubled their lead against him; Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run homer. It didn’t very much matter since the Mets were shut out that day, but Myers continues to struggle, his role moving forward uncertain. He was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse after the outing and will begin the second half in the minors.
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