After starting the season with high expectations and a payroll to match, the New York Mets stumbled into the All-Star break following their worst first half in 31 years.
Shortstop Francisco Lindor misplayed a potential game-ending, double-play grounder for an error that sparked Boston’s comeback in a 3-2, 10-inning win over the Mets on Sunday.
New York lost for the 16th time in 22 games and at 40-57 matched its season low of 17 games under .500. The Mets had not been 17 under at the All-Star break since they were 25-44 in 1995, when the season’s start was delayed until late April by the players’ strike. They are 17 under at the break in a full season for the first time since 1993, when they opened 27-60 and finished 59-103.
“I think everybody understands what needs to happen going into the second half,” said interim manager Andy Green, who fell to 6-10 since taking over for Carlos Mendoza on June 26. “There’s cleaner, better baseball for us to play. We all bear a measure of responsibility for it. This organization, the fan base, deserve better baseball.”
New York squandered seven scoreless innings from rookie Zach Thornton and a pair of RBIs by Lindor in just his second two-hit game since his return from the injured list.
President of baseball operations David Stearns emphasized run prevention and a more resourceful offense while trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil and allowing Pete Alonso, the franchise’s home run leader, and closer Edwin Díaz to leave as free agents.
New York ranks 12th in the NL with 398 runs and has rarely fielded its optimal lineup. Lindor, Francisco Alvarez, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien and Luis Robert Jr. — all opening day starters —- have combined to miss 259 games.
Juan Soto, New York’s lone All-Star, was sidelined for 15 games with a left quadriceps strain in April. Bo Bichette, signed in January to play third, is hitting .255 — 39 percentage points below his career average entering the year. He started the first 94 games before relegated to pinch-hitting this weekend due to sore legs.
Mets pitchers have a 4.27 ERA, almost a quarter of a run higher than last year’s 4.03 mark. Opening day starter Freddy Peralta, acquired from Milwaukee in a January trade, has a career-worst 4.66 ERA.
Devin Williams, who blew a save for the second time in a week, has a 4.83 ERA.
“It hasn’t been a lot of fun,” Williams said. “Not a lot of celebrating going on in this clubhouse right now.”
New York is 12 games out of the last NL wild card and will begin the second half with 19 straight games against teams currently occupying a playoff position.
“Unacceptable,” said Lindor, who is batting .216 with a .671 OPS in 40 games. “Just encourages us to continue to fight, At the end of the day, that’s the only thing we can do. We’re going to try to be better. We’re going to play as hard as we can in the second half and hopefully we put ourselves in a much better position because right now, it’s not where we want to be.”
Reporting by the Associated Press.
