The Mets are running out the string in last place. The Guardians are still fighting for their playoff lives. This one isn't close on paper.
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NYMCLE
NYMCLE
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Cleveland is the healthier, better-built team walking into this one, and New York still hasn't settled on a starter. The Mets are a last-place club playing out the season post-selloff, while the Guardians are jockeying for playoff positioning — that gap in stakes usually shows up on the scoreboard too.
Mets
+Beat Miami 4-2 just last week
+Core young pieces like Nolan McLean untouched
−47-66, last place, 4 losses in last 5
−Soto (calf) and Vientos (hand) both on IL
−Sold off pieces at the deadline
Guardians
+57-56, still in the thick of the AL Central race
+Bibee stringing together quality starts
+Bounced back with a 5-0 shutout last time out
New York enters Progressive Field having lost 4 of its last 5, and Cleveland hasn't announced a starter to answer Tanner Bibee, who takes the ball for the Guardians on his usual turn. Bibee's 4-11 record undersells him a bit given his 3.81 ERA, and he's coming off 7.1 strong innings against Arizona where he allowed just 2 earned runs and struck out 3.
The bigger story is who's not in either lineup. Juan Soto is on the 10-day IL with a strained left calf, and Mark Vientos is out with a fractured hand, gutting a Mets offense that was already scuffling — this team scored 2 runs or fewer in 4 of its last 5 games. Cleveland has largely dodged that kind of attrition; its lone notable move was activating reliever Shawn Armstrong off the injured list last week.
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NYM Mets
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New York also spent the days leading into this series unloading pieces at the deadline, a reminder of where this season is headed. None of that roster churn shows up in a box score, but it colors everything about how this Mets team is built to play out August.
New York Mets
Cleveland Guardians
Recent form.
Cleveland's last 5 have been streaky rather than dominant — an 8-12 shootout loss to Arizona sandwiched between a shutout win and a shutout loss — but at 57-56 the Guardians are still hanging in a tight AL Central picture. The Mets, by contrast, are 47-66 and have nothing left to play for but reps and roster evaluation, with Andy Green still running the club on an interim basis for the rest of the year.
New York Mets
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Cleveland Guardians
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
None of that makes Cleveland a lock — this roster has had its own leaky stretches, and Bibee's win-loss record is proof his own offense hasn't always shown up. But New York taking the field Thursday without its best hitter and without a defined starter is about as clear a signal as it gets for where this game should go.
