Mets star nudges Steve Cohen to make a much-needed trade deadline addition

The New York Mets have been on a roller coaster ride throughout the season. The ball club seemed to be fading into irrelevancy after falling to a 24-35 record in the early days of June. Then, just as conversations began to shift toward deconstructing the roster before the trade deadline, the Mets stormed back into the playoff picture.

But the Mets have become stagnant since their surge last month. The race for the final wild card spot has been tight in the National League, but New York has been unable to find their way into the spot. The Mets hold a 44-45 record after dropping six of their last 10 games. While they're 13.5 games behind the NL East division lead, they're just 2.5 games behind the San Diego Padres for the third NL Wild Card spot.

With the All-Star break approaching, the Mets brain trust will have to decide how aggressive they want to be in their pursuit of a playoff spot.

Brandon Nimmo urged Mets to bolster team before trade deadline

Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo, the elder statesman of the team, has implored Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns to find reinforcements before the trade deadline on July 30, according to The Athletic's Will Sammon.

"Any chance that I get, I kind of throw that in there," Nimmo said. "I don't think that we are that far off from being a real contender."

Since June, the Mets offense has led the National League with an .819 OPS. Despite their offensive success, the Mets have been hampered by the struggles of their bullpen. During that stretch, the Mets starting pitchers have posted a 4.24 ERA.

The Mets did not expect to be this competitive. In the last two years, the ball club has parting ways with key veterans such as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. With suspensions and injuries thinning out the pitching rotation, the Mets have been forced into high usage and unfavorable situations. The ball club's weakness couldn't have been more glaring than it was during Monday's 8-2 loss against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Mets rookie starter Christian Scott allowed just one hit in 5 2/3 innings, but Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pulled him from the game in the sixth inning. At the time, the game was tied, 2-2. Scott was replaced by Eric Orze and Adrian Houser, who both surrendered three runs a piece to close out the game.

“I know everyone thinks we’re supposed to go like 6-2 on this road trip, but honestly, 4-4 is not the worst," Nimmo said about the team's recent road stretch. “Honestly, that’s the story of the year so far. We haven’t been able to lock down wins all the time. And that’s a problem. But we’re hoping to address it. We’re hoping to continue to get better at it. We know we went on a streak there where we did a lot better. So we know it’s in there, but it’s a problem. There’s no question. But still think there’s positives to look at on this road trip.”

But losses like Monday are why Nimmo is bending the owner’s ear. On that topic, he was candid.

The Mets will play six consecutive games at Citi Field to close out the first half of the season. Martinez expects to be in the starting lineup for both three-game series against the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies.