The New York Mets (38-53) are back home for one final series before the All-Star break as they host the Kansas City Royals (37-54) for three games at Citi Field. The Mets took two out of three from the Royals in Kansas City last year, and took two out of three the last time these two teams squared off at Citi Field back in 2024. All time, the Mets are 14-16 all-time against the Royals, which includes their World Series loss in 2015.
The Mets earned a hard-fought split with the Braves to complete a 3-5
road trip. It was a tale of two halves of a series for the Mets in the Braves, which started with two losses (-3 loss on Friday and 14-3 on Saturday) that were dominated by the Braves and incredibly sloppy affairs by the Mets. New York rebounded for two one-run victories, 10-9 win on Sunday (a game that, quite frankly, felt like a loss after they allowed six runs in the ninth to almost snatch defeat from the jaws of victory) and 7-6 on Monday in extra innings. The latter was the team’s second victory when trailing after eight innings this year, a feat they accomplished exactly zero times in 2025.
The main focus around the club continues to be the trade market and trade value for some of their best assets. With the team clearly being sellers, the team appears open to business. Trade rumors have been swirling, and every player on an expiring contract seems to be available. The team will almost certainly look for someone to take Freddy Peralta, AJ Minter, and Brooks Raley, while guys like Clay Holmes and Bo Bichette could also draw some interest. It’s unfortunate that the only things we have to look forward to at this juncture of the season are trade returns and draft prospects, but the club appears to be treating the deadline as a chance to retool rather than rebuild, with their eyes set on competing once again in 2027. This will be David Stearns’ chance to at least gain some points in the eyes of the fanbase if he can really nail the returns on the trades he orchestrates.
One of the lone bright spots continues to be Juan Soto, whose three-run homer on Monday gave New York a two-run lead in the ninth (a lead Devin Williams would eventually relinquish before the team jumped ahead for good in the tenth). Soto was voted in as a starter for the NL squad in the upcoming All-Star game. Soto leads all NL players in OPS (.984) and wRC+ (168) and is ninth among hitters with a 3.0 fWAR. He is also ninth in home runs with 19, tied with Shohei Ohtani, whom he will be battling with for NL MVP honors later this year. While so much has gone wrong for New York this season, Soto has continued to perform at his usual incredible pace, even with the early-season injury that kept him out of the lineup for a little bit. In even the worst of seasons, it’s always a joy watching Soto play baseball for your team.
This series is shaping up to be a race to the bottom of the standings, as both the Mets and Royals are in the bottom-five of records in the league and could be competing to help their lottery odds this week. The Mets currently find themselves one game better than the Royals heading into play today. The Royals, like the Mets, enter this series on a two-game winning streak after taking the final two games of their series against the Phillies. Prior to that, they dropped four in a row and eight of their previous nine.
The Royals enter play with a 95 wRC+ as a team, which is 21st in baseball, and a .708 OPS, which is 20th. Meanwhile, their 384 runs scored are 20th in MLB (no doubt that both numbers were aided by their 15-1 outburst against the Phillies yesterday). On the pitching side of things, their rotation sports a 4.52 ERA (23rd in MLB) and a 4.33 FIP (20th). Their bullpen is by far their biggest weakness, as their relievers enter play tonight with a 5.21 ERA (29th), and a 5.15 FIP (30th), so if you can keep the game close heading into the late innings, you stand a good chance against them.
Bobby Witt Jr. remains one of the best players in the league despite the team’s struggles. Witt Jr. enters play today slashing .292/.364/.467 with a 128 wRC+ and a 4.7 fWAR in 85 games. He has 12 home runs to date and also has 30 stolen bases already, which is tops in the American League and second only to Nasim Nuñez of the Nationals in all of baseball. On the other end of the spectrum, veteran Salvador Perez is having a miserable year, hitting .209/.249/.347 with a 59 wRC+ and a -1.3 fWAR in 83 games. The nine-time All-Star and lone holdover from the 2015 World Series-winning club has the worst fWAR among all position players in baseball, as his career may finally be reaching its end.
Tuesday, July 7: TBD vs. Seth Lugo, 7:1o PM EDT on SNY
TBD
The Mets have not named a starter for Tuesday’s game. It’s likely Kodai Senga could factor into the game in some capacity, but he pitched on July 3, so he may not be ready to pitch on Tuesday.
Lugo (2026): 96.1 IP, 76 K, 30 BB, 12 HR, 4.20 ERA, 4.15 FIP, 97 ERA-
Lugo is failed to reach the heights of his 2024 campaign, when he finished second in AL Cy Young voting and 15th in AL MVP voting. Despite that, he’s still been a mostly-solid pitcher for the Royals over the past two years. He’s picked up a loss in each of his last two outings, both against the Rays. His last time out, he allowed three earned runs on nine hits over six innings, and before that he allowed seven earned runs on seven hits over five innings. This is the right-hander’s first start against his old club, whom he last played for in 2022.
Wednesday, July 8: Christian Scott vs. Stephen Kolek, 7:10 PM EDT on SNY
Scott (2026): 49.0 IP, 60 K, 25 BB, 7 HR, 3.49 ERA, 4.36 FIP, 85 ERA-
Scott was handed his first loss of the year in his last outing, going four innings and giving up three earned runs on two hits to the Braves. He walked four and surrendered two home runs, two things that have plagued him as of late. Specifically, he’s allowed six home runs in his last three starts after allowing just one in his previous eight outings.
Kolek (2026): 54.0 IP, 34 K, 12 BB, 8 HR, 4.50 ERA, 4.55 FIP, 104 ERA-
Kolek got off to a strong start, earning a win in three of his first four starts, including a complete game shutout in his fourth start of the year. He’s fallen on hard times lately, failing to go beyond the second inning in each of his last two starts. His last time out, he returned from the Family Emergency List to pitch two innings. He allowed three earned runs on four hits in the outing as he picked up the loss to the Rays.
Thursday, July 9: Sean Manaea vs. Michael Wacha, 1:10 PM EDT on SNY
Manaea (2026): 68.0 IP, 68 K, 23 BB, 8 HR, 5.16 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 126 ERA-
Manaea got hit pretty hard in his last start, allowing six earned runs over five innings against the Braves. It was tied for the most earned runs he’s allowed in a game this season, and the most he’s given up since getting bumped up to the rotation. It was a discouraging step back after a pretty strong stretch for the left-hander, but with no better options, Manaea will remain in the rotation as the club searches for better outings from their starting pitchers.
Wacha (2026): 114.2 IP, 91 K, 31 BB, 13 HR, 3.45 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 80 ERA-
Wacha is in his 14th major league season and still performing very admirably. The former Met, who is in his third season in Kansas City, leads the AL in innings pitched and has pitched into the sixth in all but two of his 18 starts this year. In his last start, he went six innings and allowed four earned runs on eight hits in a loss to the Phillies. It was the sixth time he’s allowed four earned runs or more this year, and he allowed a season-high three homers after allowing 10 in his previous 17 outings.
