A positive spin on July for the Mets

Although the massacre that was the 25-4 drubbing at the hands of the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night put a wet towel on things, the Month of July showed a small, but noticeable uptick in play from the team. They finished with a .500 record for the first time since the month of April, at a time where the constant media swirl has been focused on the health of the players, and the way that the team is being operated by the owners and general managers. Rather than look at negatives for the season during the month, let’s look at things from a positive perspective.

It should be noted that the Mets also had a few days off for the All-Star break, which may or may not have held their record at the .500 level. Their official record for the month was 12-12, with the 12th loss of course being the ugliest. Comparing things to the abysmal month of June, where the team finished 5-21, a stat from the offense sticks out to me. The Mets struck out 225 times in the month of June, but trimmed that number down to 183 in July. If anything, it shows that the team is becoming somewhat more disciplined as a squad at the plate, which is always welcomed. This can also be reflected in the amount of times the team walked, which despite playing 20 less innings, increased by two. To further hammer the point home, the on base percentage for the team went up by six points as well. It makes sense that if you get more people on base, you might be more successful.

One of those people getting on base more towards the end of the month was Michael Conforto. Conforto was having an up and down, inconsistent season up until the All-Star break. After the break Conforto noticeably began swinging a better bat, which reflected in his statistics. In 34 at bats after the All-Star break, Conforto slashed a scintillating .353/.425/.706 line, including three home runs and nine RBIs. This is the type of bat that the Mets need from Conforto as they continue to move forward, especially since they seem more interested in retaining the team than rebuilding it.

As for opponent’s batting against the Mets, things improved as well. Teams facing Mets pitching had an average of .258, which was down from the .265 that opponents hit in June. A big part of that improvement was Zack Wheeler, who had himself a great month of July. As rumors about the righty began to swirl, his pitching became as hot as ever. His starts in July made him appear as if he had turned a corner in his career. His elite stuff finally came out and shined. This was most prominent in his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he pitched six innings, striking out seven without allowing an earned run. In addition to his fantastic pitching, he also drove in the winning run in that game as well. His statistics for the month are what you’d expect from the way he was pitching, 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA.

That atrocious loss to the Nationals truly ended July on a sour note for the Mets. Hopefully though, we can look past that and see that the team genuinely played better in July, despite all of the negative press around the ownership and Yoenis Cespedes’s heels.