There is plenty of blame to go around in the New York Mets’ recent stretch of 13 losses in 16 games.
The lineup, which has been top-heavy all season, is now almost entirely reliant on Juan Soto. The once league-best starting rotation has been decimated by injuries to Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Kodai Senga, and Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn have proved to be disastrous replacements. The combination of injuries, underperformance, and 13 straight games without an off-day has left to constant roster shuffling, but things only seem to be getting worse with an embarrassing three-game sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates this past weekend.
Yet with so much focus on the rotation and lineup, the struggles of the Mets' bullpen seem to be flying under the radar. The unit was a strength over the first two months, as the combination of Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazobán and Ryne Stanek perfectly set the table for dominant closer Edwin Díaz. But while Díaz has continued to dominate, the rest of the relief corps has collapsed, failing to protect the few leads they have been entrusted with. The most brutal implosion was on June 17 against the Atlanta Braves, with Garrett failing to protect a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the eighth before Brazobán allowing the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth.
One only has to look at The Athletic’s trade deadline urgency index to see how much the equation has changed, as after not placing in the top five in June, Aaron Gleeman now places the Mets atop the reliever urgency index in July.
“June was a rough month for the Mets’ bullpen, which ranked 29th in ERA (5.47) and 29th in Win Probability Added (minus-1.3) despite closer Edwin Díaz doing his job just fine. What’s the point of building a star-studded, $325 million roster if getting leads from the starter to the closer is an adventure? New York needs bullpen help,” Gleeman wrote.
Fortunately for the Mets, they have both the prospect capital and the financial capital to get that help at the trade deadline. They could take a big swing for an established closer like Felix Bautista or Emmanuel Clase, or focus more on adding depth by adding multiple less-heralded arms.
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