Playoffs or bust! Probably bust.
So, um, right. The Mets! After falling face-first into the All-Star break somehow still in first place in the NL East, the Mets were looking like their days atop the standings were near an end. Then Noah Syndergaard had a setback, Jacob deGrom and Francisco Lindor hit the IL, and the team lost games in the worst ways. All while remaining in first place. And they did it with the help of, let’s see… Billy McKinney, Jerad Eickhoff, Tylor Megill, Robert Stock, Jerad Eickhoff, Anthony Banda, Jerad Eickhoff… Pitchers were landing on the 60-day IL or getting claimed/traded faster than the Mets could re-sign Jerad Eickhoff. Because that’s what first-place teams do. Wha?
With the trade deadline fast approaching, help was sure to be on the way. New owner Steve Cohen gave the green light to push past the luxury tax threshold and the Mets had loads of holes to fill, including one shaped exactly like Kris Bryant. With the Cubs (and the notoriously cheap Ricketts family) in “Everything must go!” mode, the Mets got, um, Javier Báez. For 2020 1st round pick Pete Crow-Armstrong. But the Cubs also threw in 5th starter candidate (and soon-to-be Syracuse resident) Trevor Williams and enough cash to bring their salaries down to the league minimum. Woo.
On the pitching front, the Mets had a clear need for someone better than Rich Hill, acquired earlier that week. The big prize was José Berríos, but the Mets front office was not thrilled with the Twins’ asking price, reportedly something in the vicinity of Ronny Mauricio and Dominic Smith. Clearly, the Twins weren’t getting anything close to that, until the Blue Jays offered up Austin Martin, the star of 2021 Bowman, and former Mets prospect Simeon Woods Richardson. Whoops.
At least we could look forward to Jacob deGrom returning soon. Until the Mets announced, just after the trade deadline, that deGrom was being shut down for another two weeks and would be back in September. At the earliest. Carlos Carrasco made his first start for the Mets that night with the much anticipated/dreaded return of the black jerseys and Báez hit a home run in his first game with the Mets the next day, but it was taking all this team had left to pull off a few one-run victories between crushing defeats. Oof.
And yet, they still sat in first place at the start of August, though with the replenished Phillies and Braves on the hunt for a winning record. At least nothing else could go wrong…
Well, other than not signing their first round draft pick over nebulous health concerns. The Mets!
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| Kevin Pillar | Francisco Lindor | James McCann | Trevor May |
| 5 April 2021 | 5 April 2021 | 5 April 2021 | 5 April 2021 |
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| Aaron Loup | Jonathan Villar | Albert Almora Jr. | Jacob Barnes |
| 5 April 2021 | 5 April 2021 | 6 April 2021 | 7 April 2021 |
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| Joey Lucchesi | Taijuan Walker | Trevor Hildenberger | Sean Reid-Foley |
| 7 April 2021 | 8 April 2021 | 17 April 2021 | 22 April 2021 |
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| Stephen Tarpley | Jose Peraza | Patrick Mazeika* | Jordan Yamamoto |
| 24 April 2021 | 2 May 2021 | 5 May 2021 | 5 May 2021 |
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| Tommy Hunter | Jake Hager* | Johneshwy Fargas* | Khalil Lee* |
| 7 May 2021 | 15 May 2021 | 17 May 2021 | 17 May 2021 |
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| Cameron Maybin | Brandon Drury | Yennsy Diaz | Billy McKinney |
| 19 May 2021 | 21 May 2021 | 23 May 2021 | 27 May 2021 |
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| Mason Williams | Travis Blankenhorn | Jerad Eickhoff | Tylor Megill* |
| 31 May 2021 | 2 June 2021 | 21 June 2021 | 23 June 2021 |
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| Thomas Szapucki* | Robert Stock | Nick Tropeano | Anthony Banda |
| 30 June 2021 | 7 July 2021 | 9 July 2021 | 19 July 2021 |
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| Geoff Hartlieb | Rich Hill | Akeem Bostick* | Carlos Carrasco |
| 20 July 2021 | 25 July 2021 | 29 July 2021 | 30 July 2021 |
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| Javier Báez | |||
| 31 July 2021 |
*MLB Debut
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