3 Takeaways from Mets' Series Win Over Phillies: New York Opens Up Second Half on Strong Note

Solid start to the second half from New York's starting pitching.

Jul 16, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets pitcher Christian Scott (45) and New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) during the sixth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The New York Mets took their first series of the second half from the Philadelphia Phillies with two wins and one loss, opening the second stretch of their season on a high note. The Mets rode impeccable starting pitching from young sensations Nolan McLean and Christian Scott in the first and third games to victories, as the two combined for 11.2 innings of work with no earned runs allowed and 17 strikeouts.

At the plate, the Mets bats jumped rookie starter Alan Rangel in the rubber match of the series on Sunday to the tune of five runs in the first two innings. Meanwhile, catcher Francisco Álvarez slugged a pair of homers that would be enough to lead his team to a 4-1 win on Thursday night.

As the Mets prepare for the second half, it begins with an absurd gauntlet of playoff teams. As of right now, the Mets do not play another team more than five games out of a playoff spot until September 4th, when they welcome the San Francisco Giants to town.

Here are just a few of our takeaways from an impressive series win over the Phillies this weekend.

1. The Mets have two, young, front-line starters in Scott and McLean

If the Mets have any hope of contending in 2027, they are going to need to find a way to run out a significantly better starting rotation than they have this year. As the season begins to wind down in the coming weeks, the Mets can rest their hats on two young starters being a part of the solution: McLean and Scott.

After Scott opened the series on Thursday night with just three hits and seven strikeouts in 5.2 innings, McLean followed up with six shutout innings with ten strikeouts on Sunday.

They were able to shut down a potent Phillies lineup and showed why the Mets will be able to count on them to be part of their 2027 solution. Both starters are still before their arbitration windows and will be major helps for the Mets, both on the field and in the payroll. As the team plans for the next season, they can easily pencil Scott and McLean into the middle of their rotation, if not with McLean as their number one and Scott as their two.

2. Did Francisco Lindor finally break out in the series finale?

It has been a brutal stretch for Lindor since returning from the injured list. He entered play on Sunday with an OPS of .596 since returning to the lineup, and trade deadline questions swirling around him, his contract, and his future in Queens.

In his first major performance of the summer, the Mets' shortstop reached base five times, highlighted by his first-inning homer off Rangel and an eighth-inning double.

Francisco Lindor CRUSHES this baseball to the second deck 😮 pic.twitter.com/B7giHCHIAq

— MLB (@MLB) July 19, 2026

The Mets are going to need Lindor in 2027 and beyond, and this was the first time he looked like the MVP runner-up that the Mets rode to the 2024 NLCS. His season-long OPS jumped from a .639 to .694.

His three times on base in his first three plate appearances of the day tied for his season-high marks, both of which he set when the season first began in March. It was a banner day for the Mets veteran shortstop, and they'll need to see more of this from him to close the year. After just three hits in his last four games, Lindor might have broken out during his final day in Philadelphia.

Andy Green's Mets play with a different and welcomed attitude

Andy Green has not put up a great record as the Mets' interim manager. However, there are noticeable differences between his team and the one Carlos Mendoza was running before his firing.

His Mets are now 8-11 since he took over, a measly .421 winning percentage. Still, his guidance and changes have been greeted with a spark in the Mets' offense and a stark increase in the production from their youngsters.

Returning names such as Álvarez and Brett Baty have seen their production at the plate jump, and Scott looks like a future ace, but rookies McLean and AJ Ewing look like entirely different players. Between when Green took over and the start of play on Sunday, Ewing owned a .882 OPS with four homers over 18 games, sitting on a 20-homer-20-stolen-base pace.

As for McLean, he entered Sunday with a sparkling ERA of 1.00 in his three starts under Green, and he lowered it even more after his scoreless outing to close the Phillies series. Notably, McLean appears to be attacking hitters more often and has started to use his disgusting fastball to tie up hitters with two strikes, just as he was able to do against MVP-candidate Kyle Schwarber.