Tim Britton is a senior writer at The Athletic covering the New York Mets. Welcome back to the show, Tim, How you doing, And I'll start the way I promised everyone else I would start.
Are the Mets? Okay? They're okay for now.
I guess it's been a rough almost two months now for the Mets.
So I'm doing better than the Mets right now.
Personally, probably I'm doing you know, it's the season really pivoted for them in the middle of June, and it's you know, they seem.
Like they were right in the ship for a little bit there toward.
The end of July, and then they went in San Diego, got swept, came home, got swept, and I lost eight of nine now, so it's been just a rough go of it for a team that just hasn't shown any kind of consistency and it doesn't really look like the team they were the first two and a half months of the year over the last two months.
Kam, I'm going to come out hot here and I apologize ahead of time, but I'm going to do it anyways. Having been in that clubhouse for two years and I know how this question it's get brought up quite often, but there's been people saying the team has no heart. Is there any veracity of this statement or is this just a classic We got to ask that question every year when things aren't going well.
Yeah, I mean I think like that comes up. I think more and more when a team struggles offensively the way the Mets have. Like if you go out there and you lose a game thirteen to eleven, no one really questions your heart because you were in it. If you lose two to nothing, if you go into a ninth inning like they did on Wednesday being no hit by Gavin Williams, like then it really looks like you're flat,
like you're not trying, like you don't have any heart. So, you know, having been covering the Mets for a while when they've gone through different offensive slumps, that is the number one thing that fans bring up. I don't think that's an issue. I mean, this is largely the same clubhouse that showed a lot of heart in the way they came back last season with the final four months
of the year. You know, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Neimo I think have the pulse of that room pretty well at this point, you know, Peter A.
Lonzo is a guy who's been there for a while. Jeff mcfeil. These are not guys who kind of roll over.
When things get tough, at least not anymore the way they did maybe back in twenty one went when things really went south of them in August. But since then they've shown a little bit more resolve in that regard, especially last year. So I don't think it's a heart issue. I think it's just really no phase of the game where they're playing well for six to eight weeks.
Now.
The thing that stands out to me, first of all is that the team's pretty healthy, which is always great, right. The teams in a good spot compared to most other teams. I mean, look at the Atlanta Braves for example, right, they're missing their whole rotation, they're missing a lot of bats, all that. Right, So with the Mets, I'm wondering, when you see a multiple superstar struggle at the same time, if there's some approach, some strategy from teams that you're
seeing frequently. Last year, what stood out to me with the Texas Rangers after they won a World Series is how teams were beating them with heaters, high heaters, they just like couldn't as a team hit them. There might have been one or two guys, but for the most part that was the mo for the Rangers, and their offense fell apart after winning a World Series.
Are you seeing any trends.
Like that where team are taking advantage of a weakness With the Mets, So, the two.
Things that stand out one, I think there last I checked out a week ago, they were like twenty eighth in the league against slaggers. That's a tough pitch to struggle against at this level. That's pitch you see an awful lot of. And then the other one is against left handed pitching. You know, we've seen this kind of across the game this year that the right handers have not had the kind of success they're used to having
against left handed pitching. For the Mets, that's really been born out with Francisco Lindoor and Pete Alonzo having pretty terrible years against lefties. The Mets lefties have been better against left handed pitching than the right's have been, and so we've seen a lot of you know, the top part of the Mets order, which is you know, some
combination of the door Nimo Soto and Alonso. We're seeing a lot of teams go to their lefty reliever to handle that part of the order or have a a left handed starter go through that a third time through the order because they believe that that part of the order is more vulnerable to lefties than it should be theoretically.
So I haven't looked up their exact record against lefties, but I know it's significantly worse than the record against righty's, so that that's been an area where they've really struggled of late, and against the sliders as well, which plays it at that.
At the same time, you mentioned Pete Alonzo, who you know, after coming on this one year deal and really putting up numbers some of his best months ever in the first half, then went into July and had statistically, I think, if not the worst year he's ever had the hitting wise, but one of the worst months. So in terms of him specifically, what and he is struggling with lefties? You mentioned that, But what's what specifically is is he do we think is happening with him and his bad is
he between pitches? Is he not seeing something?
Well?
What do you see out of Pete?
Yeah, I think he said this last week, but kind of when he's in a slop the way he was in the month of July. You can tell at the way he chases pitches down in the way, the slider mainly, you know, like he feels better if if his chase is up in the zone and he's missing fastballs up, he's okay with that. He feels like he's going to get to that pitch eventually, he's going to have better discernment on it.
When he's chasing the sliders, that's when he's out of whack.
And we saw that in July, right, I think the ops was like five forty eight or something like that the month of July, a far cry from where he was in April and May in particular. And so you know, like the Mets order iss the entire team is built on that top four in the order being as good
as any in baseball. And while the indoor Alonso and Soto have had good individual months, Nimo has been good in stretches, there's really been no point this season when they've all clicked, and there have been a lot more points where none of them have, like like most recently, So you know that's the part of the order that's supposed carry the team that's supposed to go to overcome the weaknesses they have elsewhere on the roster, and it just has not worked out that way really at any
point this season.
Well it's okay, I mean, you just need a dose of medicine over the weekend against Oh wait, it's the best record in baseball that they're facing the Milwaukee Brewers, right I just keep thinking about the Blue Jays getting a little slumpy and then they destroy the Rockies over the last several days. The Mets will not have that luxury they're in Milwaukee, although good times last time they were in Milwaukee with the wild Card game Game three, Pie Alonzo, the big home er off Devin Williams, who
is now a Yankee. Do you think a series like this can spark them in a positive end because they're going to be playing against the top team right now record wise, and just some top level competition. I mean, the last couple series they're taking on what the Guardians and the Giants both okay teams, but the Brewers are the cream of the crop right now.
I mean, you would sure hope that if it is a motivation issue, that they'd be getting up for this series. The team they played in the playoffs last year, a team that you know, until that playoff series had really had their number, especially in Milwaukee, dating back like six seven years. I think that's only one one series in Milwaukee since twenty seventeen outside of the Wildcard series, So
that's a place where they really struggled historically. It's a team that has given them trouble because of the style that it plays. The Mets have been better against opposing base Steelers this year than they were last year, but that that is an issue for them at times. A team that puts the ball in play and challenges their defense the way Milwaukee does. So I think this is, you know, they need to have to put together good series.
We saw them, you know, when they were in that tough stretch in late June when they lost fourteen of seventeen. It was a series win over the Brewers that got them out of it. They took two out of three at home as well, walk get started July, then took two out of three from the Yankees that got them back into kind of a better state of play for you know, maybe three three and a half weeks until they hit this, this most recent skit. But you know this is the kind of team. The National League is
a gauntlet. This is the kind of team. You're going to have to play well against it in the final two months and then of course into October if you want to get back to where they were last year.
It's summertime, it's bathing suit time, and it's time to get a better bathing suit liner. It's twenty twenty five krats. I would like to feel more comfortable, and I would like to thank Fair Harbor for doing that.
It's super easy. You get the Fair Harbor Breeze in It liner in your shorts, you can go play football on the beach, you can play paddle ball, and you don't got to worry about that crappy liner that other bathing suits have.
It is so comfortable. You got to check it out. I'm telling you, it's like butt butt a baby. You got to check out the Fair Harbor not only bathing suits, but they carry a full line of casual clothing shorts, shirts, hoodies. Go to the website Fairharbor Clothing dot com, slash foul and use code foul for twenty percent off your first purchase.
That's fair. H A R B O R Clothing dot com backslash foul for twenty percent off your first purchase and make sure that you use the ft promo code so that they know we sent you and you get the discount. Foul.
Well, let's hope they are able to pull some of these out and get the flyer the fire lit a little bit. Speaking of weird kind of slumpy stuff happening, especially in the lineup Wan Soto, who is Biometrics having a Won Soto style year. There is one big, glaring split that makes no sense to me and I am still yet to figure out what's going on, and that is his production with the bases empty versus people on base.
He's has over one thousand ops with bases empty and with runners off it's a six fifty, which is something that's never showed up for in his career. He is actually one of the guys with the bat I think maybe the best in the league that doesn't have these weird splits. He's pretty much consistently against everybody all the time. So that leads me to think that is this an intent? Is there something he's trying to do or someone he's
trying to be in those situations. Have you heard anything about mindset or approach with guys on base that is different this year than maybe it would have been passed for Jan Soto that explained it? And if not, do you have any theories?
You know, I haven't heard anything. No one has said anything about him individually in that respect. We've seen this has been an issue for the Mets as a unit for most of the season in terms of, you know, bases empty versus runners in scoring position. The ops is fifty or sixty points different that that changed in July. The unfortunate thing is it change because they stopped hitting with nobody on But you know the we talked about. You know, when it starts to become an issue for
a team, you press a little bit. So I can imagine when this shows up as a weird split for Sodo through April in his first season with the Mets, can imagine him maybe pressing in those spots a little bit more. He's not the type of guy who would admit that, and I don't think anyone on the Mets would admit that on his behalf. But it's funny because before the season I was looking at you know who had the best debut season as a met in history. And you look at like Mike Piazza's numbers in nineteen
ninety eight. He was incredible for them for the most part. But I had remembered watching that season and thinking vaguely that he had had a bad year, and it was because he had very similar splits to this. It was kind of no one on base versus runners in the scoring position, so that the thought was like, well, Piazza is getting his numbers when no when it doesn't matter, and Soda is getting his numbers when it doesn't matter.
He's not coming through in the big spots. You know, I think these are the kinds of things that even out over time. It is kind of just a weird split.
For now.
I'm surprised it has lasted even this long, but I know I can imagine it's snowballing just a little bit on him. But he's the type of guy who he gets out of it a little bit. I think we'll start to go in the other direction.
Tim, Where do you stand on the hitting coach conversation? You know, I tend to think that some can make a massive difference, others are definitely not as good as at their craft right and then most of them are in the middle where it depends on personnel, the players that you're connecting with, et cetera. This team has a lot of superstars. They've been in the league for a while. They know what they're doing. But I'm sure there's a little heat. New York fans, Mets fans, they want to
come after someone. And Eric Chavez is the hitting coach. He was a great Big leaguer, but he's hitting coach with the Mets right now, and that's the one who's being asked about. So what is your thought on that topic?
Yeah, I mean, I think if you ever want to make a change with your hitting coaches, you have to know what you want to do instead. You know, I go back to the Mets in twenty twenty one, fired Chili Davis and Tom Slater's their hitting coaches. I think on like May second, as early as any t even fired their hitting coaches. They wanted to get more analytical and it kind of over you know, brought in Hugh
Quantalbaum to run things. Sorry Gus, Yeah, q Quatlebum and it kind of overwhelmed their hitters for the rest of the season. It was difficult for them to make that adjustment on the fly, and so you know, bringing in a different hitting coach in the middle of the season, it's kind of bringing a different catcher. He's got to learn everything on the run, and it becomes difficult, you know.
You see.
I remember looking at the numbers of how much teams improve, and they do a little bit when you fire hitting coach bringing someone else, but that's generally explained more by regression. So I think if the Mets wanted to make a move with with Chavez with Jeremy Barnes, that the co hitting coaches, they've both been there for four years. They know those hitters pretty well at this point. They bring different approaches. Barnes more the analytical and mechanical guy, Chabas
is more of the experience and mental guy. They work with different hitters differently. I think if you wanted to make a change there, if you're David Seartz, who I don't believe has fired a coach midseason in his tenure as a as a general manager or a president of baseball operations, then you've got to know this is the guy I'm bringing in, or these are the guys I'm bringing in this is what we're going to do differently.
You've got to have a really set plan rather than just firing someone to fire someone.
Having been in that clubhouse when Hugh came on, confusion is the correct word, I can confirm that is definitely what was happening. So big picture, we're looking at a positive trends. We want to turn things around. We want the team to put themselves in better positions to score the more runs and win. What are a couple things you would like to see as the lineup kind of unveils through a game that maybe even if the results
aren't quite there, we're seeing better at bats. What types of things would you look for to see that trend maybe moving in the better directions some early sides.
Yeah, I mean, I think they've got to stop having these like three four five inning or as I did earlier, fourteen inning stretches where they're going hitless.
You know, they're having too many one.
To two three innings against opposing staffs, so getting guys on base, just creating the opportunities that they were creating in April, May and the first half of June.
And then you know, coming through.
With runner and scoring position and the way they weren't at that point, and they started doing in July, just with fewer opportunities. So I think kind of meshing those two aspects, hitting with nobody on hitting with runners on the way we've talked about, and then I do think like we focused a lot on the offense, like the starting pitching staff has to lead the way as well. That they were first in rotation era in the National League through June twelfth, I think June thirteenth is kind
of win. This shifted for them when they blew a five run lead and lost to the Rays, and since then they're twenty ninth in Baseball in rotation era. So
it's been a real shift for them. The whole staff, the ra has been worse, but you know, leading from the rotation guys kind of beyond David Peterson and now Sean ma and I is back pitching into the sixth inning and beyond code single looking like you did earlier in the season, could help to the point where it's not a two nothing game in the sixth inning every night, or whether they need to score, you know, seven runs
to win a game. I think, you know, having it started to go out there and win, you a game the way like Gavin Williams did against them on Wednesday, could help start them in the other direction.
Get that rock moving, gut.
Away, I'll stay on the rotation. A guy that our show has had consensus on over the past couple of years, and you know, this is what we do on shows. Frankie Montas AJ will put it more bluntly usually than I will. How is this guy getting contracts like this? And he signed for two years thirty four mil. There's certain pitchers in the off season where you're like, man, this guy can't find a home and it's two years
thirty four mil. I think with the player option for next year, so he could opt out if he was really good. He's not opting out, news flash. But what's going on with Frankie Montas?
What's the plan with him?
And has the organization talked about you know what they're seeing you know from him now that is leading to the struggles. What they liked about him, that led to the signing of the offseason of course that had a lot of injury issues. That was the case this year. He comes back, but he's not pitching well.
Yeah, and so in the off season they like this. You know, they liked his stuff. They thought, like what he did over the final two months with Milwaukee last year, when he brought his velocity back up, was kind of you know, him coming off of the shoulder injury that he had with the Yankees. This was the kind of the in between year he needed, and he was going
to take off the following season. That's why they made the gamble on him with the two year deal including the player option for the salary that they did, which I did do think surprise a lot of people in the industry.
What's been off really?
You know, he had the injury in spring training, didn't didn't come back into the rotation until June. While he was even on his rehab assignment, he was getting hit hard, you know, and it's been like a mechanical issue that he's been working through for most of that time, just to be more repeatable and to put the ball where he wants to. It doesn't matter how good your stuff is if you can't put it where you want to enough of the time. And that's been carried over for
a while. So they've talked about, you know, maybe using an opener in front of him. You know, Paul Blackburn is about ready to come back from his own injury, he would be another option. Most Mets fans roll their eyes at that possibility and look more longingly at Triple A, where you've got Brandon sprot and Nolan McClain, two of their best pitching prospects who appear just about ready to come to the big league level. Sproad after tough for a couple of months is really good of late. McLain's
been pretty consistent. Also, Lung David Seartz's has been open to that idea throughout this season. So it would not surprise me if we saw one of those two before long in the major leagues. But you know, Montas, I think is probably pitching for his spot in the rotation, the next starter or two here where you know the team needs needs him to pitch well that they're not in such a good spot in the standings anymore, but they can afford the luxury of letting their fifth starter
go out there and wear it every fifth day. They need something out of that spot, They need it soon.
That's why it's crazy to me, because if you can't kick it as a starter, I don't know if he's the reliever type. And then if that's not the case, still on THEO for another season. I mean, I guess you can fantom i elum, but you know, Met's got a little punishment for that in the past, so we'll see. That's why I'm following this one closely, Tim, We'll keep an eye on it. Last one here real quick on that, Like, if it doesn't work out for him in the rotation,
I mean, they can't really do much with him. I don't think you can option him without his permission, right, so they would have to put him on waivers.
So yeah, yeah, I mean, like the options would go, you send them to the bullpen, which is something they were contemplating when his rehab assignment was going as poorly as it was before they had some injuries in their rotation that opened up a spot for him. You can send to the bullpen as kind of the eighth guy there and the long guy that would push you know, well, Blackburn is kind of the guy who's slated for that role when he does come back, but they can move
on from him as well. He has not pitched well this year either. If you decided that, you know, you don't have room from on the major league roster yet. It's exposing him to waivers, it's de feing him, potentially releasing him and eating what's left on that contract, including next year. So that that would be a costly move to make, but one that you know, the Bets could afford in a way that most other teams cannot, and that is one of the luxuries they have.
Still, that's true, and hey, David Searns has hit on a lot of those types of projects. You are not going to hit on all of them, right, I mean, he really nailed it last year. They're not all going to work out, So we'll see what happens with Frankie.
Tim. This was awesome.
Thank you so much for catching up with us, Have a great weekend, enjoy the series out there and we'll catch you soon.
Hell YouTube, thanks for having me on.