Up until the last couple of weeks, “grimace” was indeed a familiar term for the New York Mets. It was a reaction made by the repulsed fanbase in Queens, along with the team itself, after they finished the first two months of the season at 24-33. But now, the term “grimace” has gone from a reaction of disgust to a sign of hilarious and unlikely hope, the spark that the team has needed.
The Mets get unlikely good luck charm in McDonald's Grimace
Out of all the pitching talent that the Mets had spent truckloads of money on going back to last year to secure some of the game's best in guys like Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and Kodai Senga, maybe the best to step on the mound is one that hands out more Happy Meals than fastballs.
When everyone's favorite McDonald's character not named The Hamburglar, otherwise known as Grimace, was asked to throw out the first pitch before the June 12 game against the Miami Marlins, it was seen as nothing more than another cutesy opening ceremony. There have been more memorable first pitches throughout history, for sure, for better or worse, but celebrating the bloated purple teardrop looking fast-food restaurant character's birthday has become the unceremonious lucky charm the Mets have sorely needed.
Since Grimace, the righty, threw his high and short first pitch, the Mets have been on a tear lately. That evening at Citi Field, the Mets began what has become a seven-game win streak with a 10-4 win over the Fish. The team now sits just two games short of .500 baseball at 35-37. The last time they were at .500 was back on May 7 when they were 18-18.
During their impressive seven-game stretch, they have picked up three series wins, with a chance to get their second sweep on Wednesday against the reigning World Series champs, the Texas Rangers, in Arlington. What's even more impressive is that five times the Mets have scored five or more runs in those games and scored double-digit runs three times. They've also held their opponents to two runs or less four times.
But really, Grimace's appearance was just the secret sauce to the Big Mac. The Mets have been trending upward since the calendar flipped to June. Just before they began their win streak, New York went 4-4 in their first eight games, splitting a series with the Arizona Diamondbacks, sweeping division rival the Washington Nationals, and splitting a two-game series with their other division foe, the Philadelphia Phillies, in the London Series.
The Mets have been one of the best offenses in the month of June
The Mets have mostly done this through a red-hot offense this month, where they've outscored their opponents 94-64. They now rank near the top of the league in offensive production. They rank fourth in homers (24), second in runs (94), fifth in hits (152), fourth in RBIs (89), and are first in the league in wRC+ (144). As a team, they're slashing .291/.359/.487 with an OPS of .846, all of which ranks third in the majors.
This is coming from a lot of contributors, too, all of whom Mets fans were hoping would soon come around, like Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso, veteran newcomer JD Martinez, and last but not least Francisco Lindor, who have combined to knock 11 balls out of the park this month. But the Mets shortstop has been especially impressive.
Lindor is reminding folks of the player the Mets traded for back in the spring of 2021. While his overall season totals still don't look up to par, what he's done over the month of June reveals a different outlook. He ranks among the top 15 players in the league currently for the month (per FanGraphs), slashing .271/.353/.508, scoring 13 runs, batting in eight with three homers in 15 games.
Through the efforts of Lindor and the rest of the lineup, the Mets are now just half a game out of the last Wild Card spot in the National League. When they began the month, they were 4.5 games back. The Mets will now continue a pivotal stretch of the season as the All-Star break nears, as does the MLB Trade Deadline. In what has been a weak National League this year, the Mets are still very much alive and could become surprise buyers this year.
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