Mets need to get real about present to fix their future

Jacob deGrom did not pitch Sunday and the Mets won nevertheless, which is a reflection on the current condition of the reeling Phillies. But it also is part of a growing puzzle that will challenge the Mets, particularly whoever succeeds Sandy Alderson.

The totality of the past two years strongly suggests the Mets are not a good team and reconstruction is imperative. But let’s face it, the Wilpons are not hiring someone who recommends a raze as the best strategy to rise.

And you can see the seducing qualities that would coerce GM candidates to sell what Mets ownership wants to hear. I am sure if you anonymously polled the front offices of the Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers and Rockies and asked which NL club they would prefer not to see come October (should those teams qualify for the playoffs), it would be the Mets. Such is the power of starting pitching even in the season when more than ever teams attempted to diminish the impact of rotations.

The Phillies have cratered because beyond their Cy Young challenger to deGrom, Aaron Nola, their other starters have been miserable. Philadelphia is 10-19 in its last 29 games. Starters without the last name Nola are 3-13 with a 6.28 ERA in that span. Vince Velasquez was cuffed for five runs in four innings Sunday.

That enabled the Mets to win 6-4 even after deciding 40 minutes before first pitch to scratch deGrom. The forecast was so bad (the game was delayed 27 minutes at the outset) that the Mets did not want deGrom to start, then face a long delay and perhaps manage just an inning or two, which would be bad for competing against a contender and — more vital to the Mets — damaging to deGrom’s Cy Young stretch run.

The game was never delayed after first pitch and Corey Oswalt, Drew Gagnon, Eric Hanhold, Drew Smith and Seth Lugo subdued the Phillies, who are in an extended stretch of being bad in just about every phase. The NL East-leading Braves have a bullpen running on fumes. The neophyte contenders are inexperienced boxers who have run out of gas in the eighth round of a 12-round fight, which should make the Nationals and Mets even more miserable for the opportunity squandered.

But the Mets and their next baseball operations head are going to have to determine what it means to go 11-1 in the beginning and what is now 19-12 since Aug. 8. The Mets want to feel good about that, want to see the promise for tomorrow. But on Aug. 7, they were a season-high 19 games under .500 and the whole season counts. You don’t want to ignore what has happened of late. You also don’t want to be deceived by it.

“The way we finish will have a big impact on the winter,” Mickey Callaway said.

How big? My suspicion is pretty big, since ownership a) wants to go for it next year and b) has shown it does not want to spend big and going with mostly the current cast will be more cost effective. Callaway cited wanting to see Jay Bruce at first, in particular, as important in September. But if Bruce maxes out in 2019, what is that? An average fielding first baseman who you would want to limit against lefty pitching who produces an .800 OPS? Would that make him even the 15th-best first baseman in the majors?

Bruce was 0-for-4 Sunday with a walk and two strikeouts. But Michael Conforto continued his second-half surge, the best player on both sides of the ball against Philadelphia. Amed Rosario reached base three more times, as did Brandon Nimmo. Jeff McNeil sprayed three more hits. Dom Smith came off the bench to rope a double. Drew Smith and Lugo teamed for four innings of one-hit, one-run relief to close out the win.

The most promising, young understudies shined on a rainy day that kept the star, deGrom, from performing. It has happened quite often the last month. Is that something to build on or be deceived by?

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