The name of the game in the second half of the 2024 season will be consistency for the New York Mets, which is something they were unable to secure over their first 95 games of the campaign.
There will be understandable hope, though, that the final six weeks of the season will now be the norm after wiping out a dismal 9-19 May by finishing the first half with a 25-11 record over their final 36 games to hit the break at 49-46.
All that matters, at least for now, is that this team is nearing the final turn of the season in a playoff spot as they hold the third and final Wild Card invitation in the National League.
The unofficial second half of the season is underway on Friday, and here are a few things to keep an eye on as the stakes — and the thermometer — continue to rise.
Kodai Senga’s return
The Mets have been without their ace all season after the 31-year-old right-hander suffered a shoulder injury in spring training and then suffered a setback with his triceps in May.
Senga has made three minor-league rehab starts and will need one more with Triple-A Syracuse where the hope will be that he can stretch out to 80 pitches. That means a debut could come within the next two weeks where Senga could realistically have a 90-pitch limit back in the majors.
In his most recent outing last week, Senga threw 66 pitches across 4.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
When he does return, the Mets will be instituting a six-man rotation to ensure the workload is not too heavy for Senga or some of the other starters who have not been accustomed to throwing a lot of innings in recent years. Luis Severino is already at 109.2 innings pitched, which is the most he has thrown since 2018. Jose Quintana has also thrown nearly 30 innings more than he did all of last season.
Rookie Christian Scott has pitched 85.2 innings across the majors and minors this season as he is on pace to shatter his previous career high (87.2) of innings pitched dating back to his college days at Florida.
Buyers or sellers?
The Mets’ inconsistencies have forced president of baseball operations David Stearns to remain in a holding pattern until things get closer to Major League Baseball’s July 30 trade deadline.
“We’re in a spot where winning three in a row changes things in a significant direction and losing three in a row changes things in a significant direction,” Stearns said on July 9. “It’s one of the reasons we are going to be patient.“
Should the Mets strengthen their hold on a playoff spot, it is more than likely that Stearns will be aggressive in upgrading a bullpen that has been running on fumes as of late. He went out and acquired Phil Maton from the Tampa Bay Rays earlier this month to add a fresh, high-upside arm into the mix, but as things currently stand, New York does not have enough viable relievers to succeed in October.
Alonso’s last chance to maximize value
Slugging first baseman Pete Alonso and his agent, Scott Boras, are going to try and reset the first-baseman market in free agency this winter. Early prognostications suggest that they will be looking for a deal over $200 million.
Even though Alonso has been one of baseball’s premier power hitters since he arrived in Queens in 2019, the first half of the 2024 season — his final campaign under contract — left plenty to be desired. He is batting .240 with 19 home runs and a .772 OPS. That kind of production might not warrant an abundance of $200 million-plus offers.
A hot second half can change all of that, which then puts the ball entirely in the Mets’ court. They can either dole out the cash Alonso and Boras want to make him a Met for life or they’ll deem his demands too steep and pivot elsewhere. Perhaps to Juan Soto?
Can Lindor, Nimmo keep it up?
Manager Carlos Mendoza’s flip-flopping Brandon Nimmo with Francisco Lindor at the top of the Mets’ lineup has allowed everything to fall into place.
The Mets have averaged six runs per game over their last 36 with Lindor and Nimmo doing a lot of the heavy lifting. Over Lindor’s last 47 games, he is slashing .307/.387/.560 (.947 OPS) with 10 home runs and 29 RBI. Meanwhile, Nimmo is on pace to shatter every major offensive career-high after a ridiculous 24-game stretch in which he batted .344 with a 1.140 OPS, nine home runs, and 30 RBI.
“Those guys have been unconscious at the dish,” Alonso said. “I think the past three or four weeks, those guys have been lights out. Just the way the lineup is now, anybody can hurt you. But [Lindor and Nimmo] right at the top set the tone right away and they’ve been doing an unbelievable job. It’s been great.”
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