That could mean just four more games in the Terry Collins era. Seven years and one pennant later, Collins has guided the Mets to a 549-581 record, a mediocre .486 winning percentage that a third wild card berth might make competitive. The news of the day was a New York Post report that the team’s next manager will have ties to the organization. Some of the names floated don’t inspire much confidence — retreads like Robin Ventura (.463 managerial winning percentage), Bob Geren (.470) and Chip Hale (.457) — though former BP’er Keith Law’s perennial favorite candidate, Alex Cora, is also on the list.

A Mets rumor article wouldn’t be complete without accompanying snark:

I love that they use a term normally reserved for criminal suspects when referring to potential Mets managers. https://t.co/oMNKVAxp2h pic.twitter.com/PBXtTIobBk

— Craig Calcaterra (@craigcalcaterra) September 26, 2017

But wait! There’s more! Mere hours after the Post article informed readers that Sandy Alderson will advise Collins by Monday that he’ll manage the Mets no more, NorthJersey.com posted Collins’s own comments. While the Post speculated that the 68-year-old Collins would retire from baseball rather than suffer the indignity of having his contract expire, Collins insisted in the later piece that he’ll be in baseball next season — preferably with the Mets. It’s no secret that Fred Wilpon loves him some Terry Collins. He’s probably not above forcing the general manager’s hand. Optimistically, though, for those of us who are tired of watching Collins manufacture creative ways to bench Michael Conforto, if Wilpon were going to insist that Collins stay, the owner wouldn’t have allowed the manager’s contract to inch so close to expiration. He gone.

Aside from helming the 2015 NL champs and 2016 Wild Card Game loser, Collins may deserve some credit for presiding over R.A. Dickey’s 2012 Cy Young season. I’ll leave it to others to eulogize the soon-to-be-former manager, because last night’s game brought back fond memories of the knuckleballer who dominated opposing lineups for his three-year Mets career. Through six innings, Dickey demonstrated pinpoint control of the unpredictable pitch, retiring 13 straight at one point. Brandon Nimmo had two of the Mets’ five hits against Dickey, including a second-inning double that his teammates wasted. Nimmo’s second safety in the seventh immediately preceded Kevin Plawecki’s third dinger of the season. When Amed Rosario followed two batters later with a triple, Dickey’s night was over. The few Mets fans in attendance gave him a nice ovation as he departed.

Technically, Rafael Montero delivered a quality start in his season’s final appearance. Three runs in six innings, no matter what else a pitcher does, conforms to the stat’s definition. Why was Montero’s start less than quality? Let us count the ways. First, he gave up all three runs in the first two innings, putting his team into an early hole. Next, he allowed 10 baserunners in those six innings, a ratio that inspires little confidence. Finally, Montero threw his typical 100 pitches but only struck out three Braves. If Montero is anything more than Triple-A depth in 2018, whoever manages the Mets will see a bunch more games like last night’s.

Still, a quality start is “quality” because it keeps a team in the game. The Mets were able to scratch across the tying run in the eighth thanks to an error by anonymous Braves third baseman Johan Camargo. After Jeurys Familia preserved the tie in the top of the ninth, the Mets walked off thanks to a Kevin Plawecki single, a Dom Smith walk and a Travis Taijeron line drive to left that would have been caught by nearly anyone other than anonymous Braves left fielder Jace Peterson. In this battle of who could care less, the Mets scored four and the Braves only three.

Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray, USA Today Sports

The 2017 Mets weren’t eliminated from playoff contention until Sept. 14, two months later than the July losers Grantland Rice covered in 1914. Back then, of course, there was but one playoff spot per league, not the five we have today. The NL-leading Dodgers had a 31-game lead over the Mets entering play last night. By that measure, the Mets might well have seen their playoff odds bottom out months ago.

Anyway, that’s five straight losses, this one by the score of 3-2. Rafael Montero allowed his typical nine baserunners in fewer than five innings, while the 4-A squad’s offense couldn’t plate more than two runs. Some minor-league catcher named David Freitas had Montero’s number, scoring and driving in a run for the Braves. Montero’s gone from “terrible, shouldn’t be in the big leagues” to “innings eater for team playing out the string” in just 10 starts. Good for him?

You wouldn’t be blamed if you missed the eighth inning of last night’s game while watching the ninth in Cleveland. (Goodness knows the SNY booth’s attention was divided.) The Indians’ 22-game win streak came to an end, as they couldn’t bring a leadoff single home against former Braves southpaw Mike Minor. When Francisco Lindor struck out for the final out, the sellout crowd stood in unison and demanded a curtain call from the entire roster.

If we wait till next year, maybe the Mets will deserve an ovation or two.

Photo Credit: Brett Davis – USA Today Sports

As fans and as humans, we’re predisposed to grant preeminence to events that are freshest in our minds. They call it recency bias. Recently, the Mets have won three games in a row. They’re a .500 team over their last 10 games. Since coming off the disabled list on August 26, Jose Reyes has an OPS over 1.000 while scoring 15 runs in just 13 games. Over 130 big-league plate appearances in 2017, Brandon Nimmo has a .419 on-base percentage. Seth Lugo now has a FIP under 4.00 for the season. Even Travis Taijeron looks like a contributor when he hits his first major-league home run. These are all positive, optimistic observations.

Some might argue that this uptick in performance is just more Metsing: This team should lose as much as it can to secure a higher draft pick. Winning when the playoffs are out of reach is the worst thing a team can do. What’s to be gained from beating up on Phillies and Reds squads that have always been playing for next year or the year after? I guess it’s nice when a 28-year-old rookie gets his first dinger in the Show.

You’re a Mets fan. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. You’re tired of nerve irritation and hamstring pulls. You’ve had it with broken noses and shoulder dislocations. You’re especially fed up with salary dumps and promises to reinvest in next year’s roster. Does a 5-1 Mets win over a Reds team that’s 20 games under .500 relieve you of any of that frustration?

Even when you’re supposed to enjoy a relaxing Friday night ballgame, even when your team emerges victorious, there’s still so much angst.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

Ron Darling and Wayne Randazzo took the opportunity provided by Reyes’ first MLB start as an outfielder to play a prerecorded interview in which Terry Collins praised Reyes’s versatility. Collins claimed Reyes could adjust to the new position because of his purported athleticism. As if the 34-year-old Reyes has somehow become more agile in 2017 than he was when he started his MLB career 15 years ago.

When Billy Hamilton hit a second-inning line drive to left and Reyes took a negative-3% efficient, Family Circus route to the eventual double, Darling studiously ignored the evidence of Reyes being bad at baseball. Instead, he began complimenting Reyes, favorably comparing him to Tony Phillips, a Darling contemporary who remained in the big leagues until age 40 while playing every position except pitcher and catcher. Phillips posted a .392 OBP from age 31 to 40, so he’d be a best-case, unlikely scenario for the rest of Reyes’ career. Yet that’s not why the comparison struck a nerve.

I don’t require perfection from my Mets broadcasters, and goodness knows the #GKR booth is regularly entertaining. Still, I couldn’t help but cringe at the Reyes-Phillips comp. Maybe Ron was unaware, or maybe he forgot, but Phillips was arrested in 1997 during his age-38 season for felony possession of crack cocaine. Mets’ broadcasters’ blind spot toward Reyes’s own arrest on domestic violence charges has drawn its share of criticism. A careless link between a player who pled guilty to a drug offense and one who avoided charges because his wife declined to prosecute should not be lightly excused.

Ah, there was a baseball game during all this. Chris Flexen allowed five runs in the first inning, four of them on a Scott Schebler grand slam that followed a single and two walks. The Reds added two in the fifth and another seven in the eighth. It got so bad for Chasen Bradford that nominal catcher Kevin Plawecki was brought in to relieve him with the bases loaded and no outs. Plawecki sandwiched a Billy Hamilton double between a GIDP and retiring Joey Votto on a 4-3 groundout. Consider it a moral victory in an otherwise pathetic 14-4 defeat.

Photo Credit: David Kohl – USA Today Sports

The Mets bought their pitchers some gnomes.

We knew the competitive portion of the Mets’ season had ended long before the trade deadline arrived and half the opening day lineup departed. We understand that the rest of the season is dedicated to throwing raw talent against the wall to see what sticks. That means Chris Flexen, rotation workhorse. Brandon Nimmo, starting left fielder. And it means top prospects Dom Smith and Amed Rosario will play every day.

Usually, the wholesale youth movement results in games like Tuesday’s, where the Mets were uncompetitive from the first inning. Occasionally, like last night, Chris Flexen will survive 10 baserunners over six innings to allow just two runs, Michael Conforto, Rosario and Smith will drive in runs, Paul Sewald will dominate Paul Goldschmdit in a clutch relief appearance, and the Mets will squeak one out, 4-2. Enjoy those games.

Maybe next season, we’ll get to enjoy more of them.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

So this happened

The Captain is in the lineup! #STLMets #Mets #LGM pic.twitter.com/GXrS7mNRlW

— St. Lucie Mets (@stluciemets) August 22, 2017

And also this happened

Mets gonna have a new lineup. Conforto has a thumb issue of some kind.

— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) August 22, 2017

All in all, a typical Mets news day — every silver lining comes with a dull gray cloud.

MEANWHILE, thanks to Tommy Milone, the Mets were down half a dozen runs before they scored their first. They’re now 1-6 on the current homestand. Diamondbacks 7, Mets 4.

Punditry

What is there to say? Nobody wants to see Tommy Milone and Hansel Robles pitch in a split-squad spring training game, let alone on a Tuesday night in August. A lineup with Matt Reynolds in right, Wilmer Flores at first and Gavin Cecchini at second isn’t trying to be competitive as much as it is filling space and time until the season expires. Terry Collins double-switched twice to get Kevin Plawecki and Brandon Nimmo into the game, resulting in Matt Reynolds, major-league first baseman.

Twenty-five-year-old Kevin McGowan made his major-league debut in the top of the fifth against Paul Goldschmidt. He threw a first-pitch slider for strike one. The Mets took the ball out of play to authenticate McGowan’s first-ever MLB pitch. That was the highlight of the at-bat. Goldschmidt doubled to drive home the sixth run of the night charged to Milone. The Mets did not remove the ball to commemorate the first hit allowed in McGowan’s career.

Home team scoring commenced in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Amed Rosario lifted his third home run, a parabola that hugged the left field line. Say a silent prayer that Rosario will not forever be hitting solo homers with his team down 6-0 in the fifth. Dom Smith’s first major-league double drove home the Mets’ second run in the bottom of the ninth. That same inning, Rosario “tripled” on a bloop to left field that bounced past a sliding David Peralta. Rosario and Smith sure look like they’ll be more than roster filler. As ever, it’s a small bit of good Mets news in an otherwise dismal day.

Social Media

David Wright was 0-for-4 with two K's for the single-A Port St. Lucie squad tonight. If he can play tomorrow, tonight was a success. #Mets

— Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon) August 23, 2017

GKR-isms

This is a meritocracy. — Ron, discussing Amed Rosario and ignoring the team’s season-long refusal to promote him over Jose Reyes and his .223/.286/.375 slash line.

I’m still not interested in finding out what a fidget spinner is or having one in my hands. — Ron, appealing to millennials.

You have to give [McGowan] one thing: He’s got the hair. — Gary, crediting the pitcher’s dark, curly locks.

Forecast

The Mets will continue to be bad and hurt and uninspiring. Chris Flexen and his 6.55 ERA take on Arizona’s Zach Godley (3.13 ERA) tonight at Citi Field.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

OMG Travis Snider is a Met! Okay, so I’m older than 91 percent of BP Mets readers. Still, I have powerful memories of Sabermetric Unicorn Travis Snider.

In 2006 as an 18-year-old in rookie ball, he hit .325/.412/.567. Promoted to the class-A Midwest League for his age-19 season, Snider continued to star, with a .313/.377/.525 triple-slash. Following a .316/.404/.541 Arizona Fall League performance, pretty good for a 19-year-old, Snider made his debut with Toronto the following August. Over 24 games as a 20-year-old in MLB, he continued to produce: .301/.338/.466, a .303 true average. If Jonah Keri or Dave Cameron were producing “Top 50 MLB trade value” columns before the 2009 season, Snider would have been high on the list.

Then Snider proceeded to bat just .242/.309/.396 over his next 1891 MLB PAs between the Blue Jays and the Pirates. With that level performance now established, he hasn’t played in the majors since 2015.

I don’t know who said it or when, but there’s a popular proverb in MLB scouting circles that goes something like, “Once you display a skill, you own it.” Applied to Snider, here’s a guy who bats .300 with plate discipline and power throughout the minors and as a 20-year-old in the big leagues. He must be able to find that skill again. Baseball execs will give Snider a chance to succeed until he’s too old to put on his spikes. That’s what Sandy Alderson’s done in acquiring Snider for cash. Snider remains just 29 years old. Younger than minor-league phenom Tim Tebow! Snider will get to hit in the friendly minor-league confines of Las Vegas. Maybe he proves he deserves a chance to be a fifth outfielder on a 2018 Mets team missing Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson. In any event, 2008 me is really excited.

Not pictured in the news section on Mets.com: Fernando Salas is about to be released. Salas was a trade-deadline pickup last season as the Mets fought their way to the wild card game. His 2.08 ERA as a member of the 2016 Mets was supported by a 19:0 K/BB ratio in 17.1 innings. This year, Salas was not so good, surrendering 20 walks and seven hone runs in 45 innings. When the team is rolling out Hansel Robles on the regular, it’s surprising that Salas is the one to lose his roster spot.

MEANWHILE, Jacob deGrom gave up dingers to Jacoby Ellsbury and Gary Sanchez. Dom Smith’s first career MLB homer wasn’t enough to bring the Mets back. Smith was especially unlikely to get a hit when Terry Collins pinch hit Jose Reyes for him against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth inning. Yankees 5, Mets 4.

Punditry

The Yankees plated the game’s first run in the third inning on what was scored a double and a single. In fact, the double was a bouncer down the third base line that a better third baseman might have turned into a groundout but Wilmer Flores couldn’t reach. And the single was a soft line drive into right-center field that a better outfielder than 36-year-old Curtis Granderson might have caught.

Staying on theme, deGrom didn’t deserve to be victimized by a Jacoby Ellsbury line drive that went 380 feet to left field. At any other field, it’s a double. At Yankee Stadium, it’s a two-run homer. On the other hand, deGrom also allowed a 425-foot bomb to Gary Sanchez that put the Mets down 4-2. deGrom has now allowed 23 home runs in 158.1 innings. His 100 pitches last night were a far cry from his July winning streak.

The Mets might have lost, but it’s worth mentioning that Yoenis Cespedes beat out two infield singles and threw a perfect one-hop strike to second base from the left-field wall on what turned out to be an Aaron Judge double. I’m not a scout or even an internet pretender, but when Cespedes is healthy and running all-out, he’s incredibly fast. And I think he has an 80 arm and double-plus power. As nice as it should be to have a healthy Syndergaard next year, I’m pulling harder for a 155-game Cespedes season.

As mentioned above, Dom Smith hit his first major-league home run — an opposite field shot off of Sonny Gray. Naturally, Terry Collins, who cares not for your top prospect, pinch-hit Jose Reyes for Smith in the ninth inning against Aroldis Chapman. Reyes grounded to the right of Yankee first baseman Chase Headley, who fell/dove to the ground and had the ball clank off his glove for a “hit.” That brought top prospect Amed Rosario to the plate. Figure Terry Collins would have pinch hit for him, too, if Collins could reverse the space-time continuum and have Reyes pinch-hit again. Rewarding Collins’s forced faith in him, Rosario took Chapman deep to pretty much the same spot Ellsbury reached earlier in the game. Still a home run, still a one-run deficit for the Mets.

When Travis d’Arnaud and Juan Lagares were unable to reach against Chapman, the Yankees had swept the mini two-game series in the Bronx.

Social Media

Just don't understand #Mets in build toward '18 phase having Reyes on deck to hit for Smith v. Chapman. This would be good test for kid.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) August 16, 2017

GKR-isms

“We like Fundies.” — Keith

“Fundies are good” — Ron

“Fundies in a mask” — Gary, on Gary Sanchez, whose fundies some claim need improvement.

Forecast

Robert Gsellman makes his return to the starting rotation following a DL stint running from June 27. He’ll face recent Yankees acquisition Jaime Garcia as the series shifts to Citi Field.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports

Fred and Jeff Wilpon made $52,666,666.67 yesterday.* Every MLB ownership group did. One year ago, Disney bought one-third of BAMTech — the streaming media property founded by Major League Baseball that powers MLB.tv, HBO Now, and many other online video services — for a cool $1 billion. Yesterday, Disney paid another $1.58 billion to acquire another 42% in the company.

*Does not count revenue from the home game recapped below.

When you read about players’ salaries as a percentage of league revenues declining at a startling rate, keep in mind that the $2.6 billion paid to MLB over the last 13 months is pure ownership profit. Developing video streaming technology, even if developed to stream baseball games, is technically unrelated to baseball operations. In other words, accounting for this cash would make the players’ declining share of revenues look much worse.

Suffice to say, when the Wilpons announce that their trade-deadline acquisition of A.J. Ramos was the Mets’ big offseason move because the team still has payroll constraints, the Wilpons will be lying.

MEANWHILE, three home team home runs in the first two innings actually held up this time. Mets 5, Rangers 4.

Punditry

Remember Saturday’s game? When Michael Conforto, Wilmer Flores, and Curtis Granderson all hit first-inning home runs off erstwhile Dodgers ace Rich Hill… and then Seth Lugo and the Mets lost anyway? Last night started similarly. Conforto led off with a dinger last night. Yoenis Cespedes hit one, too. Then in the second, Travis d’Arnaud followed a Jose Reyes walk with a laser over the left field wall.

Chris Flexen pitched well enough, allowing solo shots by Joey Gallo and Adrian Beltre among four hits, four strikeouts and three walks over 5 2/3 innings. His last batter was a walk to Carlos Gomez. Unfortunately for Flexen’s ERA, Gomez came around to score on a double by Joey Gallo, the first batter faced by reliever Erik Goeddel. The Mets will take 94% of a quality start from Chris Flexen every time out.

Goeddel then struck out the next two Rangers he faced. Jerry Blevins pitched the next 1.2 innings with two K’s of his own. A.J. Ramos struck out Carlos Gomez and Gallo, then gave up a solo dinger to Robinson Chirinos before coaxing a ground ball to seal the win. On a night with six home runs, 18 strikeouts and seven walks, it was a fitting ninth inning for Ramos to pick up his first Met save.

Social Media

Adrian Beltre is also sensitive when it comes to anyone trying to steal his base pic.twitter.com/Q6oz6ZAsAy

— Good Fundies (@goodfundies) August 9, 2017

GKR-isms

In small measures, strikeouts are exciting, home runs are exciting, but when all anybody is doing is striking out and hitting homers, that takes away from how exciting those events can be. — Gary

When you mess with history, you never know what the repercussions are going to be — Gary, reminiscing on the reversed Wilmer Flores/Zack Wheeler-for-Carlos Gomez trade

If you complain about a complainer, doesn’t that make you a complainer? — Ron, on Joe West being suspended for his comments on Adrian Beltre

Forecast

A 12:10 matinee. Query whether you’d rather have Mets starter Rafael Montero or Rangers starter Tobe Determined.

Photo Credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports

The best news. As if you hadn’t heard, Amed Rosario, midseason #2 prospect in baseball, was promoted on Monday, minutes after the trade deadline passed. Purportedly, it was Sandy Alderson’s plan all along to delay calling up Rosario “until the roster had solidified.” Alderson’s strategy, however, may not extend to instructing his manager how to use the touted rookie, as manager Terry Collins has already indicated that Rosario will occasionally sit behind Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Reyes. If Terry’s treatment of Michael Conforto is any indication, Rosario’s going to end up on the bench far more than we’d like.

MEANWHILE, Rosario got his first major-league hit and was charged with his first major-league error. Rockies 5, Mets 4.

Punditry

Rosario aside, there was nothing new here. Steven Matz gave the Mets four no-hit innings, then a two-hit inning, followed by an undefined portion of a four-hit inning in which he got yanked. Matz failed to pitch past the fifth for the fifth consecutive start, during which time he’s seen his ERA rise from 2.12 to 5.50.

Michael Conforto reached base in four of his five plate appearances — two singles, two walks, and a hard line drive to right-center that was caught. He’s now sitting on an OBP north of .400 for the first time in his major-league career. I’m going to keep doing this, by the way… Since July 1, Conforto’s triple-slash looks very close to Aaron Judge’s full-season line. See what nice things happen when you let the youngsters play?

Yesterday’s result emphasizes why Sandy Alderson acquired nothing but hard-throwing relief prospects when he traded Lucas Duda and Addison Reed. Paul Sewald, Jerry Blevins, and Hansel Robles combined to allow two runs and six hits over the final three innings to blow the lead and then the game. Robles finished the eighth inning and was asked to pitch the ninth. He promptly walked Charlie Blackmon. To his credit, Robles got DJ LeMahieu to ground to short on a hit-and-run attempt, but Rosario got his feet tangled on the play and booted the ball. That set up Robles against Nolan Arenado, who blooped one into short center field for the walk-off. Collins must have been saving new closer A.J. Ramos for the 10th.

Social Media

Recent Mets to make their MLB debut at shortstop:
Amed Rosario: 8/1/17
Wilfredo Tovar: 9/22/13
Kazuo Matsui: 4/6/04
Jose Reyes: 6/10/03

— New York Mets Stats (@NYMStats) August 2, 2017

GKR-isms

It’s time for [Rosario] to come up and play every day.” — Keith, forgetting who manages the team

It’s been a struggle for Yoenis this year. Since coming back off the DL he hasn’t been able to get untracked. — Keith, with my favorite sports malaprop

I think you can say the Mets’ defense right now is a complete work in progress other than a couple of spots. — Gary, with consummate understatement

Forecast

Amed Rosario’s second-ever MLB game! Chris Flexen’s second-ever MLB start! The Mets face Tyler Chatwood and the Rockies tonight at 8:40 p.m.

Photo Credit: Isaiah J. Downing – USA Today Sports

Oh also, Amed Rosario is here.

WHEN AND WHERE

Game 1:  Tuesday @ 8:40 p.m. (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 2: Wednesday @ 8:40 p.m. (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

Game 3:  Thursday @ 3:10 p.m. (TV: SNY; RADIO: 710 WOR, ESPN Deportes)

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Tuesday: LHP Steven Matz (2-4, 5.51 ERA, 6.02 DRA, -0.2 WARP) vs. RHP Jeff Hoffman (6-3, 5.58 ERA, 5.93 DRA, -0.3 WARP)

Wednesday: RHP Rafael Montero (1-7, 5.56 ERA, 6.18 DRA, -0.5 WARP) v. RHP Antonio Senzatela (10-4, 4.84 ERA, 5.91 DRA, -0.4 WARP)

Thursday: RHP Jacob deGrom (12-4, 3.29 ERA, 2.99 DRA, 3.9 WARP) v. RHP German Marquez (9-4, 4.08 ERA, 5.18 DRA, 0.4 WARP)

WHO’S HOT?

Michael Conforto, obv. His .309/.373/.691 line over the last 30 days (stats through Saturday) looks a whole lot like the .305/.428/.638 full-season triple-slash produced by his more-heralded outfield rival in the Bronx, one Aaron Judge.

Jose Reyes, too. Perhaps his .302/.330/.558 performance over the last month, supported by a fantastic 9.9% strikeout percentage (league average is 19.9%), will convince another team that Reyes can help down the stretch run. Please and thank you.

For the Rockies, to call Gerardo Parra “hot” would be an understatement. Since being activated from the disabled list on July 7, Parra’s produced at the rate of .480/.464/.720. When a player hits close to .500 for two weeks, it’s easy to overlook a 3% walk rate and a batting average 16 points higher than his OBP.

WHO’S NOT?

Ooh, let’s play that time-honored baseball analyst game, Name the Unlabeled Players!

Player A is David Wright’s combined 2015 and 2016 seasons. Player B is 2017 Carlos Gonzalez.  The good news for Cargo is that he’s not suffering from spinal stenosis. The bad news is that he’s three years younger than Wright and might need to accept a non-roster invitation if he wants to appear in spring training next season.

Rafael Montero has appeared in five games over the last 30 days, four of them starts. He’s allowing 1.46 home runs per nine innings on his way to an 0-3 record and a 5.47 ERA over that span. Come to think of it, a 5.47 ERA is better than Montero’s 5.56 ERA on the year. Maybe he should have been in the “Who’s Hot” section?

Curtis Granderson’s last 56 plate appearances: .163/.357/.302. Great guy, probably not going to fetch much in trade at the deadline.

WHEN WE LAST MET

Three straight lopsided results at Citi Field.

On July 14, the first game after the All-Star break, Jacob deGrom pitched so well — 8 4 2 1 1 11 0 — that the Mets wished they saved some of their 14 runs scored for another day. That was merely the sixth consecutive Met win in deGrom appearances. His streak reached eight before the Mariners beat him on Saturday night.

The next day, Seth Lugo twirled a quality start. (That was a spin rate joke.)  The Mets won 9-3. The team got a scare when Yoenis Cespedes aggravated a lower-body injury on a sliding catch attempt and had to be removed in the sixth inning. But Yo missed merely one game and has mashed since then.

The Rockies turned the tables on July 16, chasing Steven Matz after one inning and seven earned runs on their way to a 13-4 blowout. The Sunday Mets‘ record after that game stood at 5-10. Then the Mets lost on July 23rd to the Athletics, and also against the Mariners yesterday.  At least the Mets won’t be playing the Rockies on a Sunday.

IT’S LITERALLY A 10-DAY DL

With fate apparently having allotted more pitching injuries to the Mets than pitchers to get hurt, Baseball God saw fit to curse T.J. Rivera with a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament. The one that typically leads to Tommy John surgery. Rivera was placed on the 10-day DL on July 28. We’ll be lucky to see him on the field next season, let alone the rest of 2017.

Robert Gsellman has been on the 10-day DL with a hamstring strain since June. While his recovery has progressed to “rehab stint” status, that’s not going so well. Gsellman appeared started Thursday’s game for the Double-A Binghamton … sigh … Rumble Ponies. He lasted just two-thirds of an inning, striking out one but allowing three hits and a walk before he was pulled. Gsellman has far more of a chance than Rivera to return to the Mets this season. There’s certainly no need to rush him back.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES

“I think that we want to see some of our players perform over the next couple of months, which would include Rosario and eventually (first-base prospect) Dominic Smith for a meaningful period of time, to gauge their potential impact, both of them, on 2018,” Sandy Alderson told reporters after announcing that Amed Rosario will be called up for Tuesday night’s game. “That might also be true for some pitchers that might come up later. Certainly something we are looking at preferably with (Rafael) Montero and (Chris) Flexen, who is going to get another start or two … I think we want to see what we can. So going into next season and going into the offseason, we’ll have a better sense of what we need.”

Photo Credit: Noah K. Murray, USA Today Sports