At the All-Star break, the New York Mets were in third place with a 46-40 record and only 4.5 games behind the NL East-leading Nationals. However, the Mets’ second half has gotten off to a terrible start with a 1-9 record so far to lower the Mets’ total record to 47-49. This currently puts them 9.5 games back of the Nationals in the division and 5.5 games back of the Pirates and Dodgers in the wild-card race.
The Mets currently seem to be in the midst of a free-fall downward spiral. Their starting pitching, which was the backbone of their success in the first half, is starting to falter. The Mets bullpen was already the worst unit in baseball, but now they are even worse, and their relievers seem to be giving up runs every time they make an appearance. Aside from Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell, there really isn’t another reliever whom the Mets can trust.
Offensively, David Wright and Ike Davis have been hitting well, but Lucas Duda and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (among others) have been struggling recently. The Mets will need to get consistent offensive production from the entire lineup to be able to keep up with some of the more powerful lineups in the league.
What’s worse is that the injury bug is starting to affect the Mets once again. Dillon Gee is now out for the season after a blood clot was found in an artery near his shoulder. Johan Santana also is on the disabled list right now with an ankle injury. If the Mets keep getting marred with injuries, this season that has been great overall so far could go down the drain very quickly.
Here are 10 ways the Mets can avoid yet another second-half collapse.