There is losing, and then there is the specific way the New York Mets lose: a walk in seemingly every inning, a run in none of them. On Saturday the Mets were shut out 4-0 by the Boston Red Sox, managing three hits while stranding runner after runner in the 4-0 loss. The record slid to 40-56 — 15 games back in the NL East and, by any honest accounting, out of the race by mid-July.
Freddy Peralta walked five in 4.1 innings, and the two runs he allowed were plenty on a night the offense never threatened. Francisco Álvarez collected two of the team’s three hits. Juan Soto, Francisco Lindor, and the middle of the order drew walks that went nowhere.
At 15 games out with a losing record, the honest question isn’t really about Saturday. It’s about the deadline, now three weeks away. My take: a 40-56 team this late is a seller, and the Mets have veterans that contenders would happily take on. Pretending otherwise — chasing a race that’s already gone — is how a bad season quietly becomes a worse one.
The most maddening part was the shape of the shutout: not overpowered, just thoroughly, patiently stranded. The at-bats weren’t lifeless; the results were. That’s somehow harder to watch than a blowout, because it looks so close to competent baseball while producing zero runs.
In fantasy, this is a sell-low group you mostly can’t sell: Soto and Lindor stay in lineups on talent alone, even through droughts like this one. Álvarez’s two-hit night is a small green shoot for a streaky catcher worth holding in deeper formats. Peralta’s five walks make him a risky start until the command settles, and Mets hitters outside the top of the order are matchup-only plays while the lineup sputters.
