Mets and Yankees both slumping, but you gotta see these two catches

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The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.

Hot town, summer in the city; the Yankees and the Mets playing hurt and … uh, bad.

Plus: Let’s check in on the AL Cy Young race, the Guardians are red-hot and we have two catches you gotta see. I’m Levi Weaver. Ken Rosenthal is off this week. Welcome to The Windup!

Disappointments: The vibes are bad in New York

Since the All-Star break:

• The Mets are 8-13. After leading the NL East by as many as 5.5 games on June 12, they’re now 5.5 games back in the NL East, and 1.5 games from dropping out of the last NL wild-card position. They are on a seven-game losing streak.
• The Yankees are 9-13. After leading the AL East by as many as seven games on May 28, they’re now 6.5 games back in the AL East, and a half-game from dropping out of the last AL wild-card position. (Their current losing streak is only one game.)

I mean, Mariano Rivera ruptured his achilles tendon playing center field at the old-timers game. It’s bad times.

For the Mets, it’s even more bleak than the above numbers. After they signed Juan Soto away from the Yankees, this was meant to be the year they became the best team in New York. So much for that.

They’ve lost 12 of their last 13, They led 5-0 yesterday and still lost. The starting pitching has struggled so mightily that you have to wonder if one of their prospects in Triple A — Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat — might be a better option. Jonah Tong was just promoted from Double A to Triple A, so there are options coming. But are they ready to play saviors of a season in peril?

For that matter, is it even possible to rebound from a stretch like this?

Meanwhile, the Yankees’ Texas-two step has been particularly brutal for Devin Williams, who was responsible for another loss over the weekend, this one at home against the Astros. Austin Slater and Amed Rosario — two of their position-player trade deadline additions — are on the IL, and 35-year-old Giancarlo Stanton is playing the outfield for the first time since 2023.

They still believe they can turn things around. But they might be running out of time.

More Mets: One silver lining: Pete Alonso hit his 252nd home run, tying him with Darryl Strawberry for the franchise record.

More Old-Timers Game: It was the first one the Yankees held since 2019. But a longer absence was ended this year: Graig Nettles was back in uniform after a 14-year absence.

Monitoring: AL Cy Young race check-in

Obviously, Detroit’s Tarik Skubal is the favorite to win the AL Cy Young. By the “old” stats, he’s 11-3 with a 2.35 ERA in 145 1/3 innings. By the “new” stats, his 5.4 bWAR trails only Paul Skenes (5.7) among pitchers, and is seventh-highest in the game. But over his last two starts, he has allowed seven earned runs in 11 2/3 innings (5.40 ERA).

It’s an incredibly small sample size, but has it opened the door to other contenders?

OK, maybe not. But here’s who is knocking on the door, should Skubal’s rough patch turn into a full-blown slump.

Garrett Crochet, Red Sox: 13-4, 2.24 ERA, 148 1/3 ip, 4.8 bWAR. Crochet probably has the strongest case. That’s more wins and a lower ERA than Skubal (his 2.24 mark leads the AL). The separator for Skubal? Crochet has allowed 39 walks to Skubal’s 21. And Crochet’s 1.072 WHIP (while still extremely good) isn’t particularly close to Skubal’s .860. In short, neither one is allowing many runs, but Crochet is allowing a few more runners to reach base.

Nathan Eovaldi, Rangers: 10-3, 1.38 ERA, 111 ip, 4.3 bWAR. Eovaldi doesn’t have a case … yet. But it’s only because he missed a month with triceps tightness. That’s the only reason he doesn’t lead the ERA race at 1.38 (Paul Skenes leads the sport at 1.94 — read Jayson Stark on Skenes here). It’s also the only reason Eovaldi’s .838 WHIP doesn’t technically lead the league, ahead of Skubal. He should be a qualifier after his next start, though, which is when the debate begins in earnest. Eno Sarris has more on Eovaldi’s season here.

Hunter Brown, Astros: 9-5, 2.51 ERA, 136 1/3 ip, 4.5 bWAR.
Joe Ryan, Twins: 11-5, 2.79 ERA, 132 1/3 ip, 4.6 bWAR.

Both Brown and Ryan have been extremely good. But Ryan doesn’t lead the league in any major category, and the only thing Brown has been best at is fewest hits per nine innings (6.2). That’s not nothing, especially given the injuries the Astros rotation has faced this year. The fact that Houston still leads the AL West by a half-game is very much a credit to Brown and Framber Váldez. For Ryan, I’m not sure how much it matters when a player’s team isn’t contending, but the Twins … aren’t.

Honorable mentions: Jacob deGrom (Rangers), Váldez (Astros), Max Fried (Yankees), Kris Bubic (Royals)

Gawking: Look at these catches!!

Hmm: Guardians back from the dead?

If the Guardians have snuck up on you, you’re not alone. They’ve also been sneaking up on the rest of the American League.

Cleveland hit the All-Star break at three games below .500 (46-49), and were less than two weeks removed from trailing the AL Central by 15.5 games. That’s not quite the definition of toast, not in this expanded-playoffs era, but it’s pretty close.

Since then, they’re 15-7, and (paired with cold stretches of varying lengths from the Tigers, Yankees and Rangers) they’re now six games back in the division — and a half-game out of the third AL wild-card position.

Zack Meisel has a good by-the-numbers here to explain the hot streak. The short version: the offense hasn’t been dominant, but it has been getting timely hitting, which is how you score runs in bunches. Kyle Manzardo has rounded into form, cresting the 20-homer mark with an .808 OPS.

Meanwhile, the pitching has been getting significant contributions from Gavin Williams and a cast of less-recognizable names. Kolby Allard entered the year with a career ERA of 5.99 with the Braves (twice), Rangers and Phillies. This year? 2.54 in 25 games (two starts).

And hey — no Emmanuel Clase? No problem. Nic Enright and Erik Sabrowski have stepped up in a huge way.

I’ll add this: Cleveland ranks sixth on FanGraph’s team-wide Def stat.

Hitting? Pitching? Defense? Check, check, check.

Handshakes and High Fives

OK I guess we’re starting this up again… Brewers win-streak counter: nine games.

Jen Pawol’s debut was a success — David O’Brien has the full story from the game, while Britt Ghiroli has more context on the historical significance.

12 teams are in playoff spots. Six others are within five games. Who has the toughest (and easiest) path to the postseason? Stephen Nesbitt and Chad Jennings break down the schedules.

What makes a good teammate? Rustin Dodd caught up with Jeff Francoeur, who was widely considered one of the best.

How is Carlos Correa learning to play third base? He’s studying the league’s best.

The biggest measure of success for Trevor Story in Boston this year? Staying on the field.

Hey, so… the Twins have a winning record since the trade deadline, and have won five of their last seven games. One big reason: rookie sensation Luke Keaschall.

The NL West starting pitching is getting healthy again: Michael King is back with the Padres, and Blake Snell with the Dodgers.

Have you ever seen a switch-throwing position player? Carlos Cortes of the A’s played right field left-handed, then moved to third base, where he played right-handed.

And we had a couple of round-number benchmarks over the weekend: Jose Altuve hit his 250th home run, while Justin Verlander notched his 3,500th strikeout.

Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The latest Weird and Wild by Jayson Stark, of course.

📫 Love The Windup? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.

(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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