The Mets sure could use a good series.
The New York Mets (63-48) welcome the Cleveland Guardians (56-55) to Citi Field for a three-game set beginning this evening. Both teams have had a volatile few weeks heading into their matchup, but for very different reasons.
For the Guardians, the period directly ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline was a frustrating one, despite the team winning four of the five series ahead of the deadline. In early July, starting pitcher Luis Ortiz, who had made 16 starts for Cleveland, was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave due to allegations of gambling on baseball. Less than a month later, the Guardians’ closer, Emmanuel Clase was placed on the same non-disciplinary leave for the same reason.
Not only is this a blow to the team on the field-Ortiz has been a solid back of the rotation starter, while Clase is one of the most dominant relievers in the game-it also places a huge spotlight on the team in ways that have to be a distraction to the other players.
At the deadline, the team moved two veteran players who were both recovering from injuries in Shane Bieber and old friend Paul Sewald. But they weren’t exactly sellers, as Steven Kwan, their most valuable position player stayed put despite just about every contending team being linked to him at some point in the days leading up to it.
And so for the Guardians, who find themselves three games out of a Wild Card spot and eight games behind the Tigers for the lead in the AL Central, they’re trying to win without two key players, and without the fortification that typically comes from a contending team at the end of July.
The Mets, on the other hand, added four key players at the end of July: relief pitchers Gregory Soto, Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Helsley, as well as center fielder Cedric Mullins. The help came at exactly the right time, as the Mets had just been swept by the San Diego Padres in three games while the team looked absolutely listless for two-thirds of the series.
The bullpen had been the Mets’ biggest issue for two months now, and the addition of the new arms looked like exactly what the doctor ordered. However, in the three games since the Mets rebuild their relief corps, the bullpen-though not the new additions-contributed mightily to their losses.
That’s not to let the rest of the team off the hook. The bats are simply not coming together in the way that all presumed they would. Since July 1, Pete Alonso (72 wRC+), Juan Soto (100 wRC+), and Francisco Lindor (101 wRC+) have been below or barely at league average at the plate. Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo have been slightly better, and the bottom half of the lineup has shown some more signs of life, but no one is really delivering the offensive windfall that this lineup, still, on paper looks like it should.
In Friday’s game against the San Francisco Giants, the Mets clawed back from an early deficit, but were the victims of the Manfred Man scoring in the top of the ninth against Edwin Díaz. After a decisive win on Saturday, Frankie Montas continued to make his signing look foolish with an absolutely terrible performance, giving up seven earned runs in four innings. While that is a big lead to come back from, it wasn’t helped by Ryne Stanek’s five run meltdown in the top of the ninth. That performance was so bad that Luis Torrens had to relieve him.
A half-game out of first place, the Mets could really use a good series against the Guardians before traveling to face the red-hot Brewers this weekend. It feels like Mets fans keep saying “once the bats sync up, we’ll be on easy street,’ and with a fortified bullpen and a healthy starting staff, it looks like the last piece of the puzzle for a team that was built, and rebuilt, to win now.
Monday, August 4: Sean Manaea vs. Slade Cecconi, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Manaea (2025): 17.1 IP, 22 K, 4 BB, 2 HR, 2.08 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 52 ERA-
Since coming off the Injured List, Sean Manaea has been nothing short of excellent, continuing his stellar 2024 campaign with an ERA just over two (2.08) in his first four appearances. Small sample size caveats apply, as always, but Manaea brings a steady composure and a quiet confidence to his starts that so far has worked for the club.
Now more or less fully stretched out after a few truncated starts, Manaea should be going deeper and giving that new look bullpen a little less work during his games.
Cecconi (2025): 76.1 IP, 63 K, 22 BB, 13 HR, 3.77 ERA, 4.81 FIP, 94 ERA-
Since joining the Guardians rotation in late May, Cecconi has been a fairly consistent and reliable presence in their rotation, but his July is really where his value revealed itself: in five starts, he tossed 34.1 innings and gave his team a chance to win all of those games, only allowing two or three earned runs in both losses the team took over those starts.
Despite having a name like a mobster in a Batman comic, Cecconi’s stuff doesn’t really jump of the page at you, except that he’s good at limiting walks and has been getting more ground balls this year than at any point in his young career.
Tuesday, August 5: Clay Holmes vs. Logan Allen, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Holmes (2025): 117.1 IP, 91 K, 46 BB, 12 HR, 3.45 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 86 ERA-
The Clay Holmes as a starter experiment hasn’t failed by any means, but it appears as if its efficacy in 2025 is starting to wear thin. In his last start, he couldn’t escape the fourth inning, and the month of July in general hasn’t been very pretty. At his best earlier in the season, Holmes was throwing six innings or close to it with regularity, but Holmes hasn’t recorded more than one out in the sixth since June 7th. Since that June 7th start, he’s added half a run to his ERA, has seen his strikeouts diminish, the Mets have only won three of his nine starts, with one of those wins being a walk-off after Holmes gave up five earned runs.
With the additions of Soto, Rogers, and Helsley, hopefully the games that Holmes leaves with a lead will be fare better than the bullpen has treated him as of late, but a conversation about whether letting a converted reliever more than double his innings total from not just last season but every season save one (and he’ll pass that by mid-September) is wise.
Allen (2025): 108.2 IP, 81 K, 40 BB, 14 HR, 4.06 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 102 ERA-
It is very confusing that Logan Allen spells his name exactly the same as another Logan Allen, now of the KBO, with whom he crossed over for two seasons. A real John Smith 1882 situation.
Regardless, Allen is in his third season with the Guardians, and he’s been made at least 20 starts in all three years. His big skill is limiting hard-hit contact, which makes up for one of the slowest average fastballs in baseball, as well as a low chase and whiff rate.
Wednesday, August 6: David Peterson vs. Gavin Williams, 1:10 PM EDT on SNY
Peterson (2025): 127.0 IP, 105 K, 43 BB, 7 HR, 2.83 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 71 ERA-
David Peterson’s July and early August look like an even better version of his first half. Since July 1, Peterson has made five starts, tossed at least six innings in each, given up two or fewer earned runs, and saw the Mets win three of the five (with both losses easily pegged on the bullpen and quiet bats). Peterson has really refined himself into a soft contact machine, and has been easily the most impressive starter for the Mets this season.
Williams (2025): 116.1 IP, 117 K, 62 BB, 15 HR, 3.33 ERA, 4.42 FIP, 83 ERA-
If Gavin Williams could stop walking nearly five batters per nine innings, he’d be having a fantastic year right now. Williams has an average fastball velocity of 96.5 mph, a killer sweeper, and he’s had games where’s he’s flashed absolute brilliance this season. Against the A’s a few weeks ago, he tossed seven innings of one-run ball while striking out 11 and walking just one.