The Mets shutout the Braves 4-0 on Thursday night and vaulted back into first place thanks to the pathetic Phillies only scoring one run during their entire three-game series in Houston. Staying in first place, however, will once again prove to be a stiff test since Griffin Canning went down with an Achilles injury in the third inning. I usually try not to speculate on injuries, but in this case I don’t think we need to wait for the Twitter doctors or the regular doctors to confirm that Canning is out for the rest of the season. The Mets already have Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill on the injured list, while Sean Manaea recently suffered a setback to his recovery from a strained oblique he suffered at the start of spring training. Thank goodness for Frankie Montas, right? But even with Montas in the rotation, the Mets need someone to step up and fill Canning’s role.
Carlos Mendoza provides an update on Griffin Canning:
"We think it's an Achilles. He's getting an MRI, we're waiting for the results, but it looks like it's an Achilles injury." pic.twitter.com/Wr1vxoxQrN
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 27, 2025
That will probably come down to Blade Tidwell or Justin Hagenman since both guys have helped out the Mets with spot starts this season. I am thinking that Hagenman is the guy since he was solid in two big league appearances this season while Tidwell failed to finish the fourth inning in both of his starts. The Mets have an off day on Monday, so they can probably drag their decision out until the Yankees come to Queens on Independence Day Weekend.
Starting rotation depth could be an issue for the Mets in the long term, but at least they thrived in the short term. A lot of credit goes to Austin Warren, who completed the third inning for Canning and then pitched two more scoreless innings after just being called up today. Dedniel Nunez looked like the guy who took New York’s bullpen by storm last year. He pitched two scoreless frames of his own and struck out the side in the seventh inning. No matter who the fifth starter ends up being, that guy will probably need a lot of bullpen help, so having Warren and Nunez step up is a big deal.
The Mets’ offense on Thursday started out very frustrating when Francisco Lindor wasted a couple of singles by Brett Baty and Ronnie Mauricio in the third inning. He struck out and failed to drive in the runner from third with less than two outs, but New York got some redemption in the fourth when Tyrone Taylor hit a sac fly to score Juan Soto. Speaking of Soto, he and Pete Alonso did a great job setting the table in the fourth as well as the seventh, when they both reached on two-out hits before Jeff McNeil plated them with a two-run single. Alonso also had a clutch RBI hit in the fifth after Soto popped up in a big RBI spot. As raging hot as Soto is, his inability to hit with runners in scoring position this season remains baffling.
The Yankees didn’t play today, but they scored a huge win by announcing a George Constanza bobblehead promotion. The Bombers host the Athletics this weekend while the Mets travel to Pittsburgh, where they will not face Paul Skenes since he just pitched on Wednesday. The Mets have done a good job getting fat on second-division teams this season, and this is another opportunity.
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