Players-only meeting didn’t work for banged-up, flailing Mets
That was not a pretty road trip for the Phillies, who scored 13 runs in one game and four total in the other five, getting swept in Houston and barely escaping Atlanta with a series win for a 2-4 road trip that was not disastrous but far from successful — while their top NL East competitor played those same struggling Braves and the lowly Pirates for seven games.
The Phillies’ division lead grew by a half game.
That’s because things are not going well in Queens. The Mets, who dropped the first two games in Pittsburgh by eight and seven runs, respectively, responded to drastic times with drastic measures on Saturday night, calling a players-only meeting after their 12th loss in 15 games.
They went out the next day and lost by 11.
Both the Phillies and the Mets have gotten swept in Pittsburgh this season — an oddity upon which neglectful Pirates ownership might rest its laurels after the book is closed on their 95-100-loss season as Paul Skenes wins Cy Young — but the former can’t claim a stretch this year as bad and prolonged as this one for the Mets.
Over 17 days, they’ve turned a 5 1/2-game division advantage into a 1 1/2-game deficit, plunging from baseball’s best record to seventh.
They’ve averaged barely over three runs a game in that span, and without an 11-run outing against — yes — the Phillies, that would be barely over two-and-a-half. Pete Alonso has a .658 OPS in that span. Francisco Lindor a .541. Jeff McNeil, .606. Juan Soto’s input has been a 1.095 OPS. The output has been three wins.
But more concerning for the Metropolitans is that their greatest strength of the season’s early going, the way they built that aforementioned best-in-baseball start, has come crashing down in stunning fashion.
From Opening Day through June 12, Mets starters had a 2.79 ERA, which was nearly a quarter of a run better than any other team in baseball.
Since? That would be 5.77, better than only two teams in the majors. (The Phillies, for what it’s worth, are at 1.98 in that span, which bests the second-place Yankees by almost three-quarters of a run.) They’ve walked 5.77 batters per nine innings, more than a full walk clear of the next-wildest rotation.
Tylor Megill hit the injured list. David Peterson allowed 10 earned in two starts. Paul Blackburn has an 8.68 ERA in his last three. Frankie Montas allowed five runs in the first inning Sunday in his second start off the injured list.
And, a huge bummer beyond New York: Griffin Canning ruptured his Achilles on Thursday. He’ll miss the season and joins Megill, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea as shelved Mets starters.
The problem will, in part, subside with the return of Senga, who pitched to a remarkable 1.47 ERA across his first 13 outings of the year. Manaea hasn’t pitched this season but should help too; he’s expected back within the next week or two.
The Mets held a now-famous players-only meeting late last May, as well, after falling to a much more dire 22-33. They won the next game, and the next one, and 70 of 112 after that to reach the NLCS. Something like it could happen this year, even if the results are delayed by at least a game.
But things aren’t immediately getting easier for the team. They’re home all of this week but welcome the Brewers (who’ve won 11 of 15) and Yankees (sixth-best record in baseball).
They won’t play Philadelphia until late August. The Phillies aren’t exactly scorching hot at the moment, either. They still might wish they could see the Mets today.