The Mets will look to bounce back after a doubleheader sweep and head into the All Star break on a high note
The Mets (53-41) head to Kansas City for three games with the Royals (46-48) before heading into the All Star break. The Mets last visited Kauffman Stadium in 2023 and were swept there. They played the Royals last April at Citi Field and took two out of three games.
The Mets head into this series after [blanking] two of three from the Orioles. The series kicked off with a thrilling 7-6 come-from-behind victory for the Amazins. The Mets trailed 6-2 heading into the eighth, when Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso each contributed two-run homers to tie up the game. Juan Soto then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the tenth, as the “Fab Four” helped guide the Mets to victory.
After a Wednesday rain out, the Mets got a taste of their own as they faltered in the eighth to drop Game 1 of the doubleheader 3-1. The Mets led 1-0 for much of the game but were a paltry 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position—the worst offense came in the first inning, when they got runners on second and third with no outs but could not push a run across with Soto and Alonso up. David Peterson gave them seven-plus strong innings, but he was lifted after surrendering a leadoff single in the eighth, and Ryne Stanek immediately served up a go-ahead, two-run homer to Gunnar Henderson. Overall, he walked four in that eighth and allowed another run to cross the plate, and the Mets had no response from there.
In Game 2 of the doubleheader, the Mets fell 7-3 as they once again struggled to hit while their bullpen struggled. They brought two runs in during the first this time around, but only mustered five hits in total. After going 1-for-11 with RISP in Game 1, they went 1-for-8 with RISP while leaving six more on base. The Orioles pushed two across in the fifth and two more in the sixth to take the lead for good.
The Mets will get a big boost as they get two of their key starters back—Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea. With their bullpen stretched thin due to the neverending injuries to their rotation, getting two of their main guys back should hopefully help out their bullpen. Following the All Star break, the Mets should finally have their first go-around with the rotation they expected at the beginning of the year: Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson, and Frankie Montas.
The Royals enter this series on a bit of a heater as of late after sweeping the Pirates and taking two of three from the Diamondbacks. In all, they’ve won seven out of nine games this month. Despite still being under .500, they find themselves in second place in the weak AL Central and only three games out of a Wild Card spot in the equally-weak American League.
They are once again led by All Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who has made the AL squad for the second consecutive season. Witt Jr., who finished second in MVP voting last year and earned a Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove, owns a 4.7 fWAR, which ranks third in the AL behind Aaron Judge and Cal Raleigh. His enters play slashing .295/.346/.501 in a team-leading 94 games. He leads the club with an .848 OPS, 25 steals, and 56 runs scored and is second to Maikel Garcia with a 127 wRC+.
Garcia himself is having a terrific campaign, with a 128 wRC+ and a 2.6 fWAR in 92 games while hitting .305/.363/.464. Old Friend Mark Canha is currently on the Royals though not enjoying much success there. He is currently slashing .212/.272/.265 with a 49 wRC+ and a -0.7 fWAR in 49 games.
Friday, July 11: Kodai Senga vs. Michael Wacha, 8:10 PM EDT on SNY
Senga (2025): 73.2 IP, 70 K, 31 BB, 4 HR, 1.47 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 37 ERA-
After one rehab start for Binghamton, Senga returns a day short of a month since his last major league start. In that outing, he went 5 2⁄3 shutout innings and allowed just one hit before exiting with a hamstring strain. Had he pitched the way he was going in the early part of the season, he was probably in line to make the NL All Star team, but after missing a month, the Mets will just be happy to see him back on the mound before the break. Dating back to May 1, he’s allowed just nine runs (eight earned) over his last eight starts.
Wacha (2025): 101.0 IP, 79 K, 30 BB, 11 HR, 3.83 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 92 ERA-
Old Friend Wacha is having another solid season for KC, though he has struggled as of late and has been handed a loss in each of his last three starts. His last time out, he went four innings and was tagged for four earned runs on four hits, with four walks and four strikeouts—yes, that’s a lot of fours—against Arizona. Prior to that, he allowed five earned runs on eight hits over five innings against the Mariners. The start before that was more the fault of his offense, as he was charged with three earned runs on nine hits over six innings, with a season-high nine strikeouts against the Rays, who ultimately would go on to win 3-0.
Saturday, July 12: Frankie Montas vs. Michael Lorenzen, 4:10 PM EDT on SNY
Montas (2025): 14.2 IP, 12 K, 4 BB, 4 HR, 6.14 ERA, 5.81 FIP, 156 ERA-
It’s been a rough ride for Montas after his five shutout innings against the Braves in his season debut back on June 24. He went on to allow six earned runs on seven hits in a 12-1 drubbing at the hands of the Pirates, and followed that up by allowing four earned runs on five hits in 5 2⁄3 innings to the Yankees, though it was good enough to earn him his first win in orange and blue. The Mets will have to hope this is just Montas shaking the rust off after a prolonged injury absence, but given this and his rehab start stats, it hasn’t looked good for the Mets’ newest hurler.
Lorenzen (2025): 99.2 IP, 85 K, 29 BB, 17 HR, 4.61 ERA, 4.53 FIP, 110 ERA-
Lorenzen has struggled in two key areas in his second season in Kansas City. The first his his command: He has issued the most wild pitches (10) among AL pitchers, and his 2.62 BB/9 is also up there among AL starters. He also owns a 1.54 HR/9, which is fifth worst among AL pitchers. He is looking to build off easily his best start of the season, when he pitched into the eighth and shut out the Diamondbacks on two hits over seven-plus innings. The former two-way player had everything working, as he walked just one and struck out seven in his longest start of the year.
Sunday, July 13: TBD (Sean Manaea) vs. Noah Cameron, 2:10 PM EDT on WPIX
Manaea (2025): Season Debut
The Mets will use some combination of Clay Holmes and Sean Manaea in their final game before the break. Manaea will make his long-awaited season debut, one day before the MLB All Star break. He was a revelation for New York in 2024, winning 12 games and pitching to a 3.47 ERA, a 3.83 FIP, and a 1.08 WHIP in 181 2⁄3 regular season innings. He missed almost the entire first half with an oblique injury he suffered in spring training, and the Mets missed Manaea despite posting one of the best rotation ERAs in baseball in the first half. His return, along with Senga’s, will help fortify which has been a great rotation and can only help now that the team is without both Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill due to their injuries.
Cameron (2025): 63.1 IP, 50 K, 20 BB, 7 HR, 2.56 ERA, 3.89 FIP, 61 ERA-
Cameron has been one of baseball’s biggest surprises this year, and one of the Royals’ best players. The former seventh round pick was called up in late April and hurled 6 1⁄3 one-hit innings in his major league debut against the Rays to earn the win. He allowed one earned run or fewer in each of his first five starts before getting shelled by the Yankees to the tune of six earned runs in 5 2⁄3 innings on June 10. He’s been up and down since this reality check, though he was terrific in his last outing as he allowed two earned runs on three hits over seven innings to pick up his third win.