What Mets are still playing for down stretch of lost season

Their season is finished in late July, which does not mean the Mets are playing out the string for nothing.

An uptick from Tyrone Taylor and continued strong work from Huascar Brazobán, both of which were on display Monday, might translate to stronger trade returns by Monday’s trade deadline, which helps. But there also are longer-term ramifications from how the club performs over the final two-plus months of the season.

And with all the caveats that are attached to the existence of the 2027 season, Monday was an encouraging night for next year’s Mets.

Francisco Lindor looked like a superstar shortstop still worth building around.

Marcus Semien provided a bit more hope he is not the dead weight he looked like for much of the campaign’s first three months.

Zac Thornton looked like he belongs alongside Nolan McLean, Christian Scott and probably Sean Manaea in next year’s rotation.

“It sucks the position that we’re in,” Lindor said after the 14-3 blowout of the Braves and before Tuesday’s game was postponed, “but we enjoyed today.”

There might not be a more important Mets player in August and September — provided, of course, that he remains a Mets player after Monday, which is likely but not guaranteed — than Lindor, who is owed $160 million over the final five years of his contract.

His age-32 season has been the worst of his career, consisting so far of injury, underperformance and injury, in that order. Is this a continuation of a natural downward slope for a fading star in his 30s, whose OPS has dropped each of the past three seasons? Or is this the kind of aberrational, injury-filled year that so many encounter?

Lindor’s final few months can begin to answer that question — and the Mets hope his past two weeks have been revealing, too. Lindor entered play July 12 hitting .208 with a .636 OPS. Eleven games, four homers, three doubles and a triple later, his average has bumped to .233 and his OPS to .743.

It is too late for such a streak to make a difference for a no-doubt seller, but Lindor has begun making a case that on the other side of hamate surgery and a calf strain, he still is an All-Star shortstop who can pair with Juan Soto to get the Mets back on track. If Lindor avoids the injuries that have sprung up too often recently and ages gracefully, the future of the Mets would be far brighter.

“He’s just one of the best players in baseball,” said interim manager Andy Green, “and it’s a matter of time before one of the best players in baseball gets hot.”

There was a time when Semien was one of the best players in baseball, three times finishing third in MVP voting and a World Series champion with the 2023 Rangers. That time is over.

Last year he posted the 10th-worst OPS (.669) among qualified hitters in the sport, which led to the fascinating, bad-contract exchange with Brandon Nimmo. This year his OPS has further tumbled (.629), entering play Tuesday as the sixth worst in the game.

The concern level should be high for a second baseman who is owed $46 million in 2027 and 2028, so any reason to believe would be welcome. Maybe a second-half rebound can convince the club that Semien had been compromised for much of the first half, when he battled a bothersome hip that grew in intensity until he hit the injured list June 25.

Fresh off the IL, the 35-year-old has begun to hit again, spiking his numbers over the past five games and breaking out Monday, when he reached base four times, homered and scored three runs.

The Mets need to see more, but it is a start.

“Everybody’s starting to get healthy,” said Semien, referencing Lindor, Luis Robert Jr. and a Juan Soto whom the Mets are waiting for. “It’s a good sign.”

Thornton’s emergence has been more obvious, a young lefty who is pitching as if he is replacing David Peterson — using stuff that does not look overwhelming to silence offenses, now with a 2.43 ERA in his first five starts.

The 2027 Mets still probably need a front-line starter who isn’t Freddy Peralta, but they might not need another back-end starter if Thornton (who turned in another quality start against Atlanta) continues to outpitch his stuff.

Such a development would be significant for obvious and subtler reasons, including the fact that there have not been enough development victories this season in the organization’s minor league pipeline.

McLean, Scott and Thornton composing three-fifths of their rotation next year would counter that narrative.

“It’s not the traditional way that star pitchers get people out right now,” Green said of a pitcher who lives in the low 90s and leads with a high-80s cutter, “but it’s real.”