Second Half Adjustments

By Eddie Castro
The New York Mets were one of the hottest teams in baseball to begin the 2025 campaign. With the new acquisition of Juan Soto, manager Carlos Mendoza could plug him right into the lineup between All-Stars Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso.

Despite not having pitchers Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas to begin the year due to injury, the Mets once lead Major League Baseball in ERA. When the calendar hit June, the Mets as a team have been in disarray. The teams’ inability to score runs as well as players underperforming has led to the teams recent offensive woes.

The pitching hasn’t been as sharp as it was at the beginning of the season. Entering play on June 13, the Mets had a league-leading team ERA of 2.79 which is astonishing considering that was a huge concern for the team coming into this season.

The wheels seemed to fall off after that. Calculating 16 games after the 13th of June, Mets starters has an ERA of 6.22 which marked dead last in MLB. The Mets starting pitching alone have given up 47 runs in 68 innings.

The team has played a little better recently. Aside from dropping two out of three games to the Baltimore Orioles the Mets took two out of three from the Yankees in which their offense woke up scoring 22 runs in the series and finished off the first half taking two of three from the Kansas City Royals. With the team being decimated by injuries, especially with pitching, help could be on the way.

Frankie Montas just recently came back and if he stays healthy, he could add a much-needed boost to the rotation. The most important injury returns could be Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea. Before Senga went down with a hamstring injury during his start on June 12, he was pitching like an ace for the Mets.

With his recent return to the rotation, Mendoza is hoping he can continue his impressive 2025 campaign and most importantly stay healthy. Senga has been bothered by lower leg issues the past two seasons. Manaea made his 2025 debut last Sunday after being plagued by an oblique strain and elbow discomfort.

In 3 ½ innings, Manaea gave up just one run and struck out seven batters. Definitely a positive sign to see if you are a Mets fan. Another positive for the Mets is the re-emergence of Juan Soto. After a slow start to the season, Soto is inching closer to his elite ability that earned him the richest contract in baseball history. Although he was not selected to the All-Star team, his first half numbers indicate that he should be. He is batting .266 a 919 OPS with 23 home runs and 56 RBIs.

The team will resume play in Ohio tonight against the Cincinnati Reds. Although the Mets are getting back key players as well as Soto sizzling like a hot July day in New York, General Manager David Stearns knows he must find a way to improve the roster. There are few areas the team must address if they wish to return to the National League Championship Series as they did last year.

The bottom half of the lineup is simply not getting it done, which puts even more pressure on players such as Soto, Alonso and Lindor. A player out there like Cedric Mullins (Orioles) or Luis Robert Jr. (White Sox) would be a good upgrade. As far as pitching goes, it’s not just the rotation that needs help, their bullpen does as well.

Danny Coulombe could be a target for the team. He has pitched 0.68 in 35 games this season and the Mets desperately need a left-handed pitcher available to come out the bullpen. Felix Bautista could also be an option. We shall see how the second half looks for the Mets. Even though it’s been a Rollercoaster summer for the team, the Mets are just a half game behind the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East division.

SPORTS NOTES: (FOOTBALL) on Monday, the New York Jets locked up their stud wide receiver Garrett Wilson to a 4-year/$130-million-dollar extension through the 2030 season. He had two years left on his rookie contract. Wilson is one of five players in the NFL to have 1000 yards receiving and 80 catches in each of his first three seasons. Tune in tonight for an All-New episode of Sports talk with Eddie presented by Our Time Press. Tune in on our you tube channel at 5pm. Make sure to like and subscribe and most importantly interact with me as we talk about what’s going on in New York Sports!