{"id":617733,"date":"2026-04-21T01:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/617733\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T01:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:09:11","slug":"are-mets-and-phillies-really-this-bad-plus-mlb-record-sale-in-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/617733\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Mets and Phillies really this bad? Plus, MLB-record sale in works"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB<\/a> newsletter. Sign up here<\/a> to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.<\/p>\n

When your only comfort is that your rival is somehow doing worse, it\u2019s not a great time. Plus: The Padres are selling for $3.9 billion, a long-time minor leaguer finally got his shot and Ken wonders if it\u2019s time to fire up the annual alarm system. I\u2019m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!<\/p>\n

Concerns: Why is NL East such an early mess?<\/p>\n

The embarrassing thing isn\u2019t that my preseason NL East guess (Mets or Phillies, obviously) has been so wrong (so far). It\u2019s that I had such a boring and obvious opinion.<\/p>\n

Well, so much for that. The Phillies were just swept by the (first-place) Braves over the weekend. That\u2019s a five-game losing streak, and they\u2019re\u00a08-13, which would be the worst record in the NL if not for one team crawling behind them: the 7-15 Mets, whose losing streak\u00a0has now hit 11 games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, bad luck might be a factor.\u00a0Going into last night\u2019s loss to Atlanta, the Phillies had given up a (by far) league-worst .357 BABIP \u2014 batting average on balls in play. League average is roughly .288, so the pitching is due for a positive regression, and should improve further with the imminent return of Zack Wheeler. (Jhoan Duran hitting the IL<\/a> doesn\u2019t help, though.)
\nIt\u2019s not just Philly pitching getting BABIP\u2019d to death.\u00a0Going into last night, Phillies hitters had a BABIP of .269. That\u2019s not nearly as big an outlier as the pitching, but it\u2019s still the fifth-worst in the sport. Of their starters, only Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm are having particularly wretched seasons. But Philly\u2019s 75 runs are third-worst in baseball.
\nOne of the two teams below Philadelphia? The Mets, at 72 (the Royals have the fewest, with 71). The offense misses Juan Soto, no doubt. But\u00a0nobody else has stepped up<\/a>. Of players with more than 20 plate appearances, only two have an OPS over .700 \u2014 Francisco Alvarez (.879) and Luis Robert, Jr. (.737).
\nMeanwhile, David Peterson has been bad, and Kodai Senga has been worse.\u00a0Further, both former-Yankee relievers (Luke Weaver and Devin Williams) have an ERA over 7.00. Two great starters \u2014\u00a0Clay Holmes and Nolan McLean \u2014 can\u2019t carry a whole staff.<\/p>\n

For more analysis on what is going on with these two (and the 8-15 Astros), I recommend clicking on Ken\u2019s link. Let\u2019s throw it to him now.<\/p>\n

Ken\u2019s Notebook: Hot-seat time already<\/p>\n

From\u00a0my latest column<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is it something in the air this season? I don\u2019t know, but it sure seems like the \u201cCurse of Samuel Joseph\u201d might strike early.<\/p>\n

Longtime readers are familiar with \u201cThe Curse of Samuel Joseph,\u201d a potent spell aptly named by the late Jerome Holtzman of the Chicago Tribune.<\/p>\n

Samuel Joseph is the oldest of my three children, born on May 21, 1991. On each of the first three days of his life, a major-league manager was fired. First the Cubs\u2019 Don Zimmer, then the Royals\u2019 John Wathan, then the Orioles\u2019 Frank Robinson. So much for the joy of new fatherhood. I was covering the Orioles at the time.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Sam, in honor of his 35th birthday, is bucking for an early present this year.\u00a0His curse already is hovering over three managers \u2014 the Mets\u2019 Carlos Mendoza, Phillies\u2019 Rob Thomson and Astros\u2019 Joe Espada.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying they will be fired. I\u2019m not saying they should be fired. But seeing as how their respective clubs are carrying three of the game\u2019s seven highest payrolls \u2014 and that their owners seem capable of pulling a Steinbrenner (George, not Hal) \u2014 I just don\u2019t trust that they won\u2019t be fired.<\/p>\n

Oops, sorry for the double negative. I\u2019ll be happy to apologize for botching the English language the moment the owners and heads of baseball operations of the Mets, Phillies and Astros take responsibility for the poor roster constructions that might lead them to scapegoat their managers.<\/p>\n

In normal years, clubs typically start changing managers in mid-to-late May, when the season is about one-fourth complete, as opposed to the current one-eighth. The curse did strike a bit earlier last season, when three dismissals \u2014 Pittsburgh\u2019s Derek Shelton, Colorado\u2019s Bud Black and Baltimore\u2019s Brandon Hyde \u2014 occurred between May 8 and 17. None of those teams fully recovered. None was good to begin with.<\/p>\n

In-season dismissals, then, are often unfair. But they are not always unwarranted.\u00a0A classic example occurred in 2022, when \u2014\u00a0against my misguided recommendation<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the Phillies fired Joe Girardi after a 22-29 start, replaced him with Thomson and made it to the World Series. They then were vanquished by the Astros, whose owner, Jim Crane, celebrated by parting with his GM, James Click.<\/p>\n

When players perceive a manager to be too tight, the way the Phillies did with Girardi, it\u2019s time to go. The same is true when players perceive a manager to be too worried about retaining his job. And sometimes when a team looks like it needs new energy, fresh leadership, just something different.<\/p>\n

For the rest,\u00a0click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More hot seats: Roster holes can come from a lot of places, but they always point to one place: the GM. In Houston, is\u00a0Dana Brown\u2019s job in peril<\/a>?
\nMoneyball: Padres nearing MLB-record sale<\/p>\n

In 2012, Peter Seidler bought the San Diego Padres for $800 million. That\u2019s\u00a0a lot of Big Macs<\/a>, but here we are, a mere 14 years later, and\u00a0the price is\u00a0up to $3.9 billion<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 expected to be paid by Chelsea F.C. owner Jos\u00e9 E. Feliciano and his wife, entertainment mogul Kwanza Jones. Previous high: the $2.42 billion Steve Cohen paid for the Mets in 2020.<\/p>\n

As investments go, a nearly 500 percent increase in value with very little risk is about as solid as you could ever hope for.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Padres\u00a0may not be a typical MLB franchise<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the Twins and Nationals each struggled to meet selling prices within the last few years \u2014 but they are\u00a0an\u00a0MLB franchise, and they\u2019re not alone in ballooning values. Franchises have increased in value by multiple hundreds of percentage points over the last couple of decades.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s certainly a point that will be brought up during the CBA negotiations, since these increases are happening even without a salary cap. Pair that with the early hot starts in markets like Tampa Bay, Cleveland,\u00a0Cincinnati<\/a>, Pittsburgh and \u2014\u00a0yes<\/a> \u2014 15-7 San Diego, and the \u201cparity\u201d argument doesn\u2019t seem like it\u2019s doing so hot, either.<\/p>\n

(I know, I know. We\u2019ll revisit in October.)<\/p>\n

Long-awaited: Welcome to the big leagues, 28-year-old<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a sucker for the \u201cguy gets called up after a lot of years in the minor leagues\u201d story. But this one isn\u2019t a mop-up pitcher getting a few innings or a backup catcher on emergency duty, as Ryan Ward of the Los Angeles Dodgers had been a progressively better hitter in Triple A over the last few years:<\/p>\n

2023: .234 average, .748 OPS
\n2024: .258 average, .861 OPS
\n2025: .290 average, .937 OPS
\n2026: .324 average, 1.020 OPS<\/p>\n

All told, he has played 420 games for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers and 696 total minor-league games since being drafted in the eighth round of the 2019 draft.<\/p>\n

One problem: The Dodgers already have a first baseman. A really good one, in fact. And they\u2019re not much less stacked at the corner infield positions.<\/p>\n

But when Freddie Freeman\u00a0went on the paternity list<\/a>\u00a0this week, it was finally Ward\u2019s time. And in front of friends and family, he got his first hit and RBI.<\/p>\n

Freeman will be back soon \u2014 the paternity list allows players to miss between one and three games \u2014 but given those Triple-A numbers, Ward will surely get another shot soon.<\/p>\n

Handshakes and High Fives<\/p>\n

The league leader in OPS plays for the Yankees. No surprise, right? Except it\u2019s not Aaron Judge. It\u2019s Ben Rice, who has\u00a0earned high praise from his captain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman knows his swing doesn\u2019t look right.\u00a0He\u2019s working on it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Nationals finally threw a shutout.\u00a0It was not normal, of course<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Borrowing and adapting from the Marlins, the Rockies are \u201csuggesting\u201d pitches from the dugout.\u00a0Here\u2019s why (and how)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Garret Anderson, who played more games in an Angels uniform than any other (and still holds the franchise hit record at 2,368) died over the weekend at just 53 years old<\/a>, from a heart attack.<\/p>\n

A few of us\u00a0gave somewhat early thoughts<\/a> on the 2026 version of MLB The Show.<\/p>\n

In softball, Florida pitcher Keagan Rothrock threw her\u00a0third\u00a0career no-hitter \u2026 and\u00a0apparently had no idea<\/a>\u00a0until it was over. Not mentioned in the video by Jomboy, but something I noticed: Florida has a left-handed catcher!<\/p>\n

A touching moment in Colorado: Shohei Ohtani\u00a0spent time with a 100-year-old survivor<\/a>\u00a0of the Nagasaki bombing, who called the two-way star the \u201cpride of Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani on-base streak counter:\u00a0It has officially gotten to the point that we\u2019re doing a counter. With two doubles in the Dodgers\u2019 9-6 loss to the Rockies, Ohtani is at 51 games. That\u2019s the third-longest streak in Dodgers history, behind Shawn Green (53) and Duke Snider (58).<\/p>\n

On the pods:\u00a0The return of \u201cStarkville,\u201d where Yankees manager Aaron Boone joined for\u00a0the show\u2019s season debut<\/a>. Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville are back every Saturday.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: The\u00a0Pope hat giveaway<\/a>\u00a0by the Chicago White Sox.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udceb Love The Windup? Check out\u00a0The Athletic\u2019s other newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Windup Newsletter \u26be | This is The Athletic\u2019s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,475,481,82],"class_list":["post-617733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-mets","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}