The clock is ticking down on the Mets’ window of contention. As general manager Brodie Van Wagenen put the finishing touches on a trio of trades minutes prior to Monday’s Trade Deadline, those Mets already in-house were making the final outs in a 5-3 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field.
The new additions — Todd Frazier, Robinson Chirinos and Miguel Castro — can help. But for a team that left the field in fourth place, a season-worst five games under .500, improvements will need to happen quickly.
“Especially in a short season like this,” manager Luis Rojas said, “you can almost feel like time is running out on you.”
Things happen quickly in a 60-game season. Take Jacob deGrom, for example. Dominant in retiring his first eight batters on Monday, five via strikeout, deGrom began showing cracks during a two-out rally in the third. He put out that fire, but he couldn’t do the same in the sixth, after Garrett Cooper homered and Pete Alonso committed a fielding error. Lewin Díaz, Miguel Rojas and Jorge Alfaro all followed with RBI hits, turning a two-run New York lead into a two-run deficit.
The Mets had taken an early lead in the third inning on a Jeff McNeil RBI double and a Dominic Smith sacrifice fly, then added another run on a Robinson Canó homer in the sixth. But they could not complete the comeback.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].