Metrospective 6/21/2025: Free Fallin'
I hope this is rock bottom.
In today’s newsletter: The slide continues, Reed Garrett implodes again, and (surprise!) not much doing from the offense.
How Low Can They Go?
You have to give the Mets a little credit for narrative consistency, at the very least. Their series against the Rays and Braves followed similar patterns — massive bullpen collapse in Game 1, regular ol’ blowouts in Games 2 and 3 — and, based on Friday night’s 10-2 loss to the Phillies, the Mets’ seventh-consecutive defeat, it seems like the Amazin’s are staying on trend.
Tied at two in the bottom of the 7th after back-to-back solo home runs from Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil off old friend Taijuan Walker in the 6th, the Mets turned to the usually reliable Reed Garrett to hold the fort. Instead, it fell apart all around him. Garrett faced four batters, retiring none of them, and left with his team suddenly in a 4-2 hole.
Justin Garza made matters worse, allowing two of Garrett’s inherited runners to score and surrendering two more of his own. In all, the Phillies blitzed Garrett and Garza for three doubles, two singles and two walks resulting in an ugly six-run mark that all but took this game out of contention. Garza let the Phillies get to double digits when he gave up a long two-run shot to Nick Castellanos in the 8th.
Despite a very lopsided pitching matchup, the Mets actually had a chance in this game. They didn’t score against Zack Wheeler but limited him to five innings by driving his pitch count up. When you face aces like Wheeler, sometimes that’s the best you can do.
On the other side, Blade Tidwell was much better in his second MLB start. He held Philadelphia to two runs over 3 2/3 innings and while he walked three, he had four strikeouts and flashed the kind of impressive stuff that makes you feel bullish on his chances to be a solid mid-rotation starter. His fastball velocity was kind of all over the place, touching 98.7 mph at one point in the 1st inning, and both the slider and sweeper exhibited strong break. Stuff has never been the question for Tidwell, just his ability to repeat his motion and harness his talent.
Tidwell worked out of jams in the 2nd and 3rd. He wasn’t able to do so in the 4th. Singles from Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto and a walk to Bryson Stott loaded the bases with one out. Tidwell did get the ground ball he needed from Otto Kemp but Brett Baty had to contend with a big hop that made a double play impossible.
José Castillo came in for the rookie and immediately allowed a RBI single to Brandon Marsh before getting Trea Turner to ground out to end the frame.
The Mets had four hits and three walks against Wheeler but, as usual, couldn’t convert whenever anyone was on base. Their best scoring chance came in the top of the 1st when, with the bases loaded and one out, McNeil grounded into a routine double play. The only other time they got a runner into scoring position all game was when Brandon Nimmo doubled with two outs in the 5th only for Juan Soto to strike out swinging to strand him at second.
The back-to-back jacks from Alonso and McNeil off Walker — who was heavily booed by the ever-forgiving Philadelphia faithful — appeared to give the Mets a little life. It was short-lived. They only managed one baserunner the rest of the day.
José Buttó had a nice outing, retiring all six batters he faced in the 5th and 6th. Normally, you’d like the Mets’ chances in a game when you hand the ball to Garrett in a tie game in the 7th, especially after an abbreviated start. Garrett has been vulnerable lately, though, allowing runs in two of his three prior outings. The dam broke on Friday.
Marsh doubled and scored on Turner’s bloop two-bagger, giving the Phillies the lead. Kyle Schwarber walked and then Alec Bohm went the other way for a RBI single. Weird to see a team with such impressive situational hitting when you watch the Mets every day.
That was it for Garrett and Garza was even worse. Castellanos made it 5-2 with a single and Stott cleared the bags with a double to deep left-center. To put how bad things are going for the Mets in perspective, Stott’s double was the third bases-clearing double that the Mets have given up in their last four games. As a team, the Orange and Blue have a grand total of seven runs in their last five games.
What To Note
There are too many issues to count with this team at the present juncture but one of the biggest is probably Francisco Lindor. He had another 0-fer on Friday and is now 0-for-his-last-19. He hasn’t hit a home run since June 2nd and his OPS is under .800 for the first time since late May. The at-bats are ugly, he’s swinging and missing a ton and he is hitting for no power. By far his worst slump of the season and it doesn’t help that no one — maybe other than McNeil and Nimmo — are doing much either.
Brett Baty finally returned to the lineup and went 0-for-4. He missed the whole Braves series with a right groin injury that apparently has resolved itself.
Why is Luisangel Acuña still on the roster? He has only started three games this month and should be getting actual playing time in Triple-A. I don’t get what the point of having him sit on the bench is.
Not terribly concerned about Garrett because the Phillies didn’t necessarily hit the cover off the ball. But, for a guy who relies on strikeouts, the inability to miss bats is fatal to his entire approach. When opposing hitters aren’t chasing — and when he is in the zone too often — he’ll have days like Friday and also Tuesday (in Atlanta).
This is the Mets’ first seven-game skid since 2023. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the 2015 team — you remember what that squad did — also had a seven-game losing streak amid a dreadful June.
Also, the loss officially moved the Phillies a game up on the Mets in the NL East. It only took eight days for a 5.5-game division lead to turn into a one-game deficit. The 2007 Mets are impressed.
Up Next
Well, the only way to move is forward and the Mets will try to avoid an eighth-straight defeat on Saturday night in Philadelphia. First pitch is at 7:15 p.m. and the game is on FOX and 880 AM.
Griffin Canning goes for the good guys against rookie righty Mick Abel. Canning has been hit hard in each of his last two starts as his awesome beginning to the year has begun to resemble his pre-Mets career.
Abel has been really good in his first four MLB starts and is coming off a five-inning, one-run showing against the Marlins. A first round pick of the Phillies in 2020, Abel’s Minor League results had been rather up and down but he has been an important surprise piece of the rotation.