Raley, Robert showcase their value while McLean finishes off strong July

NEW YORK -- Shortly after recording five key outs in the Mets’ 4-2 victory over the Marlins on Thursday at Citi Field, Brooks Raley sat in the dugout and reflected on his four years in the organization.

At some point between now and 6 p.m. ET on Monday, Raley knows he will be traded. For an impending free agent pitching for a last-place team, this is not merely a possibility. It is an inevitability. So as Raley sat on the bench, he thought back on the trade that sent him here from the Rays, on the success he enjoyed immediately, on the Tommy John surgery that derailed his career and the recovery that followed.

“I’ve had a lot of good moments here, and this place has been great to me and my family,” Raley said. “Enjoyed wearing the blue and orange.”

It’s entirely possible that the 79.3 mph sweeper Raley threw to retire Kyle Stowers in the top of the eighth will be his final pitch as a Met. That pitch was the key to Raley’s late-career breakout, which began in 2022 with the Rays at age 34 and continued through four seasons with the Mets. At his best, Raley can deliver his sweeper with more than two feet of horizontal break, making it all but unhittable for left-handed batters.

For that reason, Raley is perhaps the top lefty reliever available at this year’s Trade Deadline -- more valuable than A.J. Minter, whom the Mets dealt to the Twins late Thursday night for prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick, according to a source. The five outs Raley recorded in his fifth win of the season, including a line-drive double play to escape a jam in the seventh, lowered his ERA to 2.01. Over his entire Mets tenure, Raley holds a 2.33 ERA in 148 appearances.

“I’ve developed a lot here,” Raley said. “I thought I knew who I was as a player when I came over from Tampa, and this organization embraced me. Obviously [we] had a little turnover over the time, and I met a lot of players, great teammates, navigated a big market and all [the media]. Special place to play for sure.”

Interim manager Andy Green called it fitting that Raley recorded the win in what might have been his final Mets appearance, considering everything he’s given the organization. With scouts from roughly a dozen teams in attendance, plenty of eyeballs were on him. He could be pitching for one of those rivals next, looking to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022 (Raley was injured during the Mets’ postseason run in 2024).

“This organization has been great to me,” Raley said. “Hopefully, we get back out there for another one in the next couple days, but it’s just the reality of it.”

Trending upward
As game time approached, scouts from the Padres, Phillies, Rangers, Rays, Red Sox and White Sox, among other teams, crowded into Citi Field to catch final glimpses of several Mets and Marlins players.

Luis Robert Jr. gave them a fresh data point when he pulled a go-ahead two-run single into left field in the eighth inning of New York’s win.

Robert, along with Tyrone Taylor, is one of two right-handed outfielders the Mets have available at the Deadline. Plenty of teams could use that sort of help, including the Phillies, Rangers and Red Sox -- three clubs that just so happened to be present to see Robert’s handiwork.

Though Robert is batting just .138 in nine games since returning from a lengthy stay on the injured list due to a lumbar spine herniation, his hits have included two long home runs and Thursday’s game-winner.

“Given how much time he’s missed, I think that’s what makes you smile when a guy comes through in a big moment, helps your team win a baseball game,” Green said. “Obviously, he’s pulverized a couple of baseballs since he’s been back on our active roster. Game-winning hits in the eighth and ninth inning are the most fun in baseball, so that was great for him to have that moment given all he’s been through this year.”

Lightning McLean
For Nolan McLean, May was ugly. June was better. July was downright excellent.

With 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball on Thursday, McLean completed his July sporting a 1.78 ERA for the month. Among National League pitchers with at least four starts in July, only four of them -- Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd of the Cubs, Kyle Leahy of the Cardinals and Eury Pérez of the Marlins -- have been better.

The only real damage against McLean came in the form of homers by Stowers in the fourth inning and Jakob Marsee in the seventh. The latter of those stuck McLean with a no-decision.

“They always say solo homers aren’t going to beat you, but they’re never fun to give up,” McLean said. “It’s definitely something to build off of.”

In July, McLean started five times, going at least six innings in each of those games and never allowing more than two earned runs. After producing a 6.10 ERA in May, McLean has rebounded with far better months in June (2.79) and July.