The losing continues

Morning Dose: Tuesday, June 24

☀️ GOOD MORNING:

It could be worse. This could be the final weeks of September.

If the Mets are going to have everything fall apart all at once, it might as well come in June, when they’ve already built themselves some slack and have plenty of schedule ahead.

This team is going to hit. They aren’t hitting right now, at least not in a concert with each other. But they are going to hit. Anthony DiComo nailed it in his response to Statcast King Mike Petriello noting the Mets are technically having their best hitting month of the season — it’s the sequencing.

I’ve often said they should call this sport Sequence instead of Baseball because it’s not about how many strikes or balls or hits you have, or how many runs, it’s about the order by which they occur. The Mets have scored 94 runs this month, but only 30 in the last 11 days. They have 10 wins this month, but only one since June 13. The apple isn’t sour, we are eating where there is a giant brown spot.

That brown spot has taken the form of the Atlanta Braves, as it always does for the Mets. The forever hated rival has won 27 of their last 37 games against New York, including 10 of 15 at Citi Field. Atlanta has a 2.88 ERA during that span and have won eight of their last nine games against the Mets dating back to July 27, 2024, including the last five. It seems Francisco Lindor made the same deal with the devil last September that Joe Namath did to overcome the Colts in 1969.

On the same day they demoted his brother, Ronald Acuña Jr. put on a show at Citi Field, dancing around the infield and mocking the fans after putting his team up 2–0 in the third. The Amazins fell behind early, couldn’t claw back and lost. Same script.

🤨 WHAT’S WRONG: Carlos Mendoza summed it up after the game.

• Chasing it: “Especially when you’re chasing a lot,” Mendoza said, “It feels like during this stretch, we’re getting down early in games and then the at-bats are pretty much completely different.”

• Bottom of the order: “We’re relying so much on our top guys,” Mendoza said. “And we have a lot of guys in the bottom of the lineup that are going through it right now. And when that happens, once you get past the fourth or fifth batter, we're having a hard time creating opportunities, creating chances for us, and it's hard to score like that.”

The Mets were aggressive against Spencer Schwellenbach, attacking pitches in and out of the zone. They swing at 41 of his 89 offerings, whiffing only five times, but failing to put enough balls on open grass. Zooming out, they have the fifth highest whiff rate and seventh highest chase rate since this losing streak began.

The bottom of the lineup has been abysmal. Their 5-through-9 hitters have a combined .197 average in the month of June, which extends the span to include the time the team was beating up on the Nationals and Rockies. Ironically, only the Braves have a lower average from the bottom of their order.

HERE’S FRANKIE: David Stearns remained committed to his principles to not overpay for a bonafide front-line starter this offseason. He decided to bring back Sean Manaea and sign former Brewer Frankie Montas to a two-year deal. It’s now up to Montas to try to save the Mets and the rotation from a mid-season collapse.

KEEP IN MIND: All it takes is one little winning streak, three in a row over the next three days, and the Mets would be looking to escape this month with one of the best records in the National League and a commanding 12-game lead over the Braves. The Amazins received good news on Kodai Senga’s health, Sean Manaea inches closer to a return, and the offense will eventually wake up — even if it’s still flawed, they aren’t this bad. It will be in July when the front office will have to evaluate where things truly stand.

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

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Box Score | Full Standings

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🍎 ROSTER SHAKEUP

David Stearns isn’t afraid to pivot, a strength that helped spark last year’s second-half run, and hopefully, works again.

The Mets made a slew of roster moves on Monday — on top of the decision to demote Francisco Álvarez on Sunday — that aren’t exactly earth shattering, but offer at least a tinker to try to stabilize a tedious situation, like adjusting the needle ever so slightly to find a clear tune on a record player.

🔹 SAY HELLO TO LOVELADY

And you thought superfan Seymour Weiner (rest his soul) had the best name in baseball. The Mets are bringing Richard (you can now call him Dicky) Lovelady to Citi Field in hopes of at least temporarily solidifying the bullpen in the absence of Max Kranick and while José Castillo figures things out as the only other lefty reliever available to manager Carlos Mendoza.

The 29-year-old finds a major-league home with the Mets after opting out of his minor-league deal with the Twins last week. He is out of minor-league options.

The southpaw pitched well for Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate this season, striking out 25.6% of the batters he faced, walking 8.4%, and keeping a low 1.31 ERA, despite an inflated 18.1% HR/FB rate. Keeping the ball in the ballpark has been one of his Achilles’ heels, but he showed improvement in that area last season during a 28-game stint with the Rays.

A lefty who isn’t going to blow you away with his stuff, Lovelady is a stereotypical Stearns pitcher, relying on a sinker to induce ground balls, particularly against left-handed batters. He has found success adding a sweeper to his repertoire that has a 31% whiff rate and .176 opponent wOBA in the minors this year. He uses his sweeper along with a slider and four-seamer to help him navigate right-handed hitters.

🗣️ Here to Learn: “I’ve heard so much about obviously the pitching department and all the coaches getting the absolute most out of everybody,” Lovelady said. “So I’m excited. I really am.”