Saturday, July 19

Welcome back to the Mets Beat newsletter! Anthony DiComo has covered the Mets for MLB.com since 2007, including the past 16 seasons full time on the beat.

NEW YORK -- Rather improbably, Francisco Lindor has never made the All-Star Game as a Met. 

Without question, Lindor has been one of the league’s top overall players since arriving in New York in 2021. But sluggish starts in each of his first four seasons, along with heady competition throughout the National League, have prevented him from making the team. Last summer, Lindor was a notable snub behind Trea Turner (Phillies), CJ Abrams (Nationals), Mookie Betts (Dodgers) and Elly De La Cruz (Reds). 

This year, Lindor appears intent on leaving no doubt with his best first half since joining the Mets. Fans have taken notice. Through the first week-plus of voting, Lindor leads NL shortstops by a massive margin, topping Betts by 422,085 votes. He’s one of only seven players with more than a million votes so far. 

• VOTE NOW: 2025 PRO SPIRIT MLB All-Star Ballot. Watch the All-Star Game presented by Mastercard July 15 on FOX

At this point, the argument for Lindor to be a starter next month in Atlanta is obvious. He leads NL shortstops in both major versions of WAR, while also ranking in the Top 4 in homers, runs scored, RBIs and stolen bases. Although De La Cruz tops the league at his position in all four of those counting stats, Lindor has him easily outclassed on the defensive front. 

He’s also, by and large, one of the most popular players in baseball. 

“Francisco Lindor is one of the great players in the game,” Colorado manager Warren Schaeffer said earlier this month, after Lindor came off the bench to deliver a go-ahead, two-run double on a broken toe. “He’s a guy you never count out. He’s just one of the best. You never want to see him in the batter’s box.” 

Lindor did make the American League team every year from 2016-19 with Cleveland, serving as a reserve on all four occasions. But he hasn’t managed to do the same since switching leagues. And he’s never been a starter. 

Elsewhere in Major League Baseball’s first ballot update: 

• Pete Alonso trails Freddie Freeman by nearly a quarter of a million votes, but there’s an even larger gap between Alonso and the third-ranked NL first baseman, Michael Busch. As such, Alonso stands an excellent chance of making his fourth consecutive All-Star team. 

• Juan Soto ranks fourth among NL outfielders, trailing Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Teoscar Hernández. But Corbin Carroll and Ronald Acuña Jr. lurk close behind him. 

• Fans don’t vote for pitchers, so it’s difficult to say how many total All-Stars the Mets will have. Among those with excellent claims are David Peterson, Edwin Díaz and Reed Garrett. Peterson and Garrett have never made an All-Star team; Díaz has twice. 

Luis Torrens caught multiple runners stealing in the fifth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Rays. Before Torrens, who was the last Mets catcher to throw out two or more runners stealing in a single inning? 

A) Travis d’Arnaud

B) Tomás Nido

C) Kevin Plawecki

D) René Rivera

Don’t look now, but the Braves, who have played well below expectations for most of this season, have suddenly won four of their last six games. Since returning from injury, Acuña has produced at an MVP level, allowing the Braves to begin rectifying the run of tough luck they endured earlier this season. Their record is 31-39. Their Pythagorean W-L, which estimates their projected record based on run differential, is 36-34.

What’s more, the Braves have their three best starting pitchers -- Spencer Schwellenbach, Chris Sale and Spencer Strider -- lined up to start their next three games. 

Those just so happen to be scheduled against the Mets, who were swept last weekend for the first time all season. 

If this all feels chilling, know that when the Mets won Game 161 in Atlanta last September, they wiped away years of frustration down in Georgia. But that’s not to say Atlanta is no longer a threat. Quite the opposite. 

“The Braves are a very good team,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “I don’t care what their record says -- a very good team that can play very good baseball, pitch very well, hit very well, especially in their home ballpark. So we’re going to be going in there expecting a bulldog fight.” 

This time around, at least, there’s no logical reason to expect the worst. Not only did Lindor’s home run last September prove that the Braves can be vanquished, but this Mets team may be even better than that one. 

So buckle up. Seven of the Mets’ next 10 games will come against the Braves, with three in Philadelphia sandwiched in between. 

For the Mets, it’s an opportunity to send one of their chief rivals spiraling out of playoff contention. For the Braves, it’s a chance to climb right back into it. This is about as good as June baseball gets. 

• How the Mets will fare on this NL East road trip is one of three questions facing them following their sweep at the hands of the Rays.

• If you clicked that first link, you’ll know about another question surrounding the Mets’ rotation, which has finally seen some problems bubbling to the surface. On Saturday, we dove a bit deeper into those issues. 

• The Mets may have a difficult decision coming up with Frankie Montas, who has struggled on his rehab assignment. In better news, Mark Vientos and Brooks Raley are set to begin rehab games on Tuesday. Both could be of significant help once healthy. 

D) Rivera

Rivera threw out multiple runners in the third inning against the Marlins on April 9, 2017. No Mets catcher replicated that feat until Torrens on Saturday. 

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