Be-deviled by the Rays

Morning Dose: Monday, June 16

☀️ GOOD MORNING:

When you don’t field, don’t pitch and don’t hit, you don’t win. And for the Mets, it seems none of those things happen when they play the Tampa Bay Rays, who have won six straight against New York and 16 of their past 20 meetings.

🚽 Flush it down the toilet: Over a marathon season, you’re going to have a series like this. If it worries you, look no farther than the top competition in the National League. The Phillies are pulling themselves out of a two-week funk that saw them get swept by the Pirates. The Dodgers suffered a home sweep to the Angels, as they trudge through mediocrity and poor health.

There are bigger picture concerns, which we will talk about in a bit. But it’s important not to place too much emphasis on the first sweep of the year; we just aren’t used to it after this club has gone 36 consecutive series without a sweep dating back to last year, the third longest such streak in franchise history.

That said, as I’ve warned again and again, including on our most recent podcast, this Mets team probably isn’t a 100+ win team, so some regression to the mean is expected (said in classic JB fashion).

🍿 BLOCKBUSTER: The news sending shock waves across baseball this morning is the trade that will send Boston star Rafael Devers to the Giants for two young depth starters and prospects. It’s a mind-numbing deal from a Red Sox perspective, but thinking about its impact to the Mets, one of the teams competing for the National League pennant just got a lot better.

⚾️ DIVISION RACE: Naturally, the Phillies found their footing just as the Mets went cold. A 5.5-game lead from last week has already shrunk to 2.5 games. The Amazins will use the off day on Monday to get settled in Atlanta, before playing 10 straight games against the Braves (seven) and Phillies (three).

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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Box Score | Full Standings

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😓 ROTATION WOES

Since the beginning of the offseason, it seemed destined for us to reach this point: when the starting rotation turns into a question mark.

The starting group has outperformed even the most optimistic forecasts with a league-leading 2.97 ERA. The Mets are one of four teams to have five starters who have made at least 13 starts. For a while, they were one of the few groups in franchise history to have four hurlers with a sub-3.00 ERA this late in the season.

They were doing all of this while waiting for Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas to return from the IL and having not fully utilized other depth pitchers like Paul Blackburn.

🔹 JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS GOOD, cracks are beginning to show. Since the beginning of May, the rotation is still performing, but giving up a full run more (3.26 ERA) than they were over the first five weeks of the season (2.24), while allowing the second most walks since the end of April.