The New York Mets head into this week’s Subway Series winners of 13 of their last 17 games. With one month to go until the trade deadline, the Mets have played well throughout June. But challenges await in the form of Edwin Díaz’s pending suspension after his ejection Sunday night for sticky stuff and Starling Marte’s knee ailment.
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Here are five takeaways for the week ahead.
Díaz’s suspension may impact Tylor Megill, David Peterson
Díaz’s 10-game suspension was announced Monday. He can appeal. If Díaz doesn’t appeal, he will be out until July 6.
Edwin Díaz on if his hand was "stickier than usual" tonight:
"I think it's the same. They always check me, they let me pitch… I will keep using the same thing because they didn't find anything on my glove, my hat, my belt." pic.twitter.com/QXvO1sxAeD
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 24, 2024
Díaz’s suspension puts the Mets in a tough situation regarding their roster. It’s hard enough for the Mets to replace their star closer, who was just starting to resemble his old self; Díaz solidified the bullpen, put roles in order. But New York will also be down a pitcher. Thus, some nimble roster maneuvering may be required.
For example, it wouldn’t be shocking if David Peterson and Tylor Megill both got optioned to Triple A following their next starts — assuming the Mets stick with their current rotation for the next few games — for relievers. Then, when those turns in the rotation pop up again, the Mets could option those relievers for Christian Scott and Jose Buttó. To be clear, that’s just one path the Mets may take, and there are more.
The Mets aren’t positioned to do a ton of shuffling with their bullpen, but they can shuttle a couple of pitchers down to the minors, if needed. Dedniel Nunez and Danny Young — both have been effective — are the only Mets relievers with minor-league options beyond Reed Garrett, whom the Mets would presumably lean on even more for high-leverage situations without Diaz.
Christian Scott is ready for another chance
Before Díaz’s suspension, the Mets were already mulling the idea of inserting another starter — with the likely addition being Scott — because they play 17 straight games ahead of the All-Star break starting Friday.
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Scott was demoted to Triple-A Syracuse a few weeks ago because the Mets were facing a roster crunch and they had several days off in June. With Scott in the minors, they could toggle his innings back, too. And while he was there, the Mets wanted to see him work on his secondary pitches after relying heavily on his fastball. An evaluator said Scott did just that. Scott has rediscovered the action on his sweeper and has been locating pitches against both lefties and righties with confidence.
Starling Marte’s absence will test a surging lineup
Starling Marte’s test results Monday showed bone inflammation in his right knee, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said. Marte was told he needed 15 days of rest.
Over the last few weeks, Marte has missed a few games because of the knee issue. He was removed from Saturday’s game and did not play Sunday night.
Marte, 35, has produced a solid offensive season after returning from a poor 2023 in which he was compromised by injuries, notably a double-groin surgery before the 2023 season. Marte has bounced back with seven home runs, 12 stolen bases and a .745 OPS. Marte has graded out poorly in right field with minus-9 defensive runs saved. He has played in 66 of the Mets’ 76 games.
Starling Marte says that his knee has been bothering him for "a few weeks" pic.twitter.com/mwOKNCMDys
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 22, 2024
With Marte out, there’s no one the Mets can immediately install who would likely post similar offensive numbers. Collectively, though, their lineup may be good enough to make up for his absence. New York’s lineup runs deep these days with all the regulars owning an OPS+ above 100 (average) with the exception of second baseman Jeff McNeil (68 OPS+).
It’s not yet known who the Mets would place on their active roster to take Marte’s spot.
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With Marte sidelined, obvious candidates on the roster to see more action are reserve outfielders Tyrone Taylor and DJ Stewart. McNeil could see more time in the outfield, as well, and that opens the possibility of moving an infielder up from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets have used right-handed batter Jose Iglesias often against lefties to spell the slumping McNeil. Brett Baty (left-handed batter), who has played three games for Syracuse at second base since his demotion last month, and prospect Luisangel Acuña are infielders on the 40-man roster.
The only other outfielder on the 40-man roster is Duke Ellis, a speedster the Mets recently claimed off waivers (New York also has prospect Alex Ramirez on the 40-man roster, but he’s in Double A with a .679 OPS). But Ellis has played in only eight major-league games, and the Mets have more proven options in the minors, even if it means they’d have to select one onto the roster such as Ben Gamel and Trayce Thompson. There are also utility players like Luke Ritter, Mike Brosseau and Pablo Reyes.
Pitching Luis Severino against the Cubs was the right move
The Mets made the right decision when they moved Severino up to pitch against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night instead of having him face his former team, the New York Yankees, even if they deprived us of a storyline. And that’s not just because it ended up working out, with Severino tossing six scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and just three hits allowed. No, the logic was always sound.
One, the matchups made sense. The Cubs have just a .682 OPS against right-handed pitchers, like Severino, which is better than just nine other teams. The Yankees lead MLB in OPS against right-handers (.782), but they are in the middle of the pack against lefties (.699). Before Sunday’s game, the plan was to start Peterson, a lefty, on Tuesday and lefty Sean Manaea on Wednesday.
Also, there were some playoff implications on the line against the Cubs. After winning Sunday, the Mets are in line to receive a tiebreaker over the Cubs should there be such a need (the Mets won the series after the two clubs split a four-game series in April).
J.D. Martinez continues to affect the clubhouse in a meaningful way
Here’s an informative take via Brandon Nimmo on the ways J.D. Martinez has helped improve hitting meetings, preparation and overall culture.
“What I’ve continued to try and get around him, is just more of when you’re going up to the plate or when you’re going through your work, the mental process that he goes through,” Nimmo said. “He’s someone, it’s like 10 a.m. every day, he goes and he hits on his own. And then he comes into the field and hits some more.
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“It’s something he’s continually trying to master and knows that he’ll never get to the end of that but is constantly pursuing being a better version of himself for that day, for that specific pitcher. And he understands that it’s not one swing for everybody and for every pitcher; there are different swings for different pitchers and different situations. And he knows that the swing is constantly evolving and constantly with his body, where you’re at in the season, and he’s constantly trying to stay on top of it. For me, just watching him go about this, just opens my eyes to how many different ways there are to do it, but that there are commonalities between successful hitters, and it’s their will to compete and be adaptable with the game.”
(Photo of Starling Marte: Luke Hales / Getty Images)
Will Sammon is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering the New York Mets and Major League Baseball. A native of Queens, New York, Will previously covered the Milwaukee Brewers and Florida Gators football for The Athletic, starting in 2018. Before that, he covered Mississippi State for The Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi’s largest newspaper. Follow Will on Twitter @WillSammon
