New York Mets: Five losers from the first-half of the 2019 season

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 20: Jeurys Familia #27 of the New York Mets reacts has he is pulled from the game against the Washington Nationals in the eighth inning at Citi Field on May 20, 2019 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Bullpen

Where would the Mets be right now with an average bullpen? Likely, not 10 games below .500. The team has blown more saves than anyone else in the league this year leading many to believe this group of relievers deserve a bulk of the blame for how bad 2019 has been.

Other than Seth Lugo, nobody can really be trusted. Diaz has had some disastrous blowups on the mound, but they don’t compare to how horrific Jeurys Familia has been in a setup role. He completed the first-half of the season with a 7.50 ERA through 30 innings of work.

There’s not much nice to say about anyone in this bullpen. Robert Gsellman has regressed and no longer looks like the weapon he was last year. Wilmer Font has given the Mets a few good outings, but he hardly qualifies as a building block for the bullpen moving forward.

We’ve seen 22 different men pitch in relief for the Mets this season including Steven Matz and Jason Vargas. None of those arms have been consistently effective. Only the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles have a bullpen with a worse overall ERA.

Something needs to change for us to have any faith in these men. It should begin with future planning in the second-half.

Sunday Starting Lineups

Is there anything uglier than seeing your team’s starting lineup on a Sunday? If you follow the Mets, you know this feeling all too well.

Sunday is a day of rest of many. When the Mets make their lineups, it’s common to see three or more starters on the bench. They ignore hot bats and streaks in favor of planned days off even when they are in desperate need of a victory.

Recently, things may have changed. After the season-changing loss against the Chicago Cubs which ended with a locker room tirade from Mickey Callaway and Jason Vargas, the Mets have been a little wiser about the Sunday lineups. Sure, they still put a few scrubs in there. But we’re not seeing someone like Jeff McNeil ride the pine in the middle of a hitting streak.

With any luck, the Mets spread out these off-days a little better. Give a guy a Saturday break and another the day off on Sunday. This offense is not good enough to lose more than one bat on any given day or night.

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