PHILADELPHIA — Drew Gilbert (acquired from the Astros for Justin Verlander) is now with the Giants. Luisangel Acuña (Max Scherzer) is with the White Sox. Justin Jarvis (Mark Canha) is pitching in independent ball. Jeremiah Jackson (Dominic Leone) is with the Orioles. Marco Vargas is struggling with Double-A Binghamton and Ronald Hernandez is with High-A Brooklyn (David Robertson). Jeremy Rodriguez (Tommy Pham) has not yet made it past Low-A St. Lucie.
There is a chance that the Mets’ best hope at salvaging big league value from their 2023 sell-off rests in Ryan Clifford’s powerful, if flawed, stroke.
The first baseman and outfielder arrived with Gilbert as the return for Verlander and was one of the many newcomers who brought hope for an organization that had given up on the season, just as the Mets are expected to soon give up on this year.
But the haul — while somewhat useful, Acuña and Gilbert included in additional trade packages — has not yet panned out as planned, Clifford included.
The slugger represented the Mets at Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game because a) he has real pop, with 16 home runs in 86 games and b) the Mets farm system has lacked breakouts this season, prompting New York to send a loud bat who owns just a .679 OPS. Clifford himself said he was surprised at the honor.
His presence served as a reminder of what could be and what has not been: The ability is alluring, but the strikeouts are abundant.
With Triple-A Syracuse this year, the 22-year-old has struck out 129 times in 86 games, a 36.4 percent strikeout rate that is higher than every qualified major league hitter. The dearth of contact has contributed to a .196 batting average.
The struggles culminated in a horrid June, hitting .099 with a .355 OPS and 39 strikeouts in 93 plate appearances.
“June was not a good month for me,” acknowledged Clifford, who attributed his down season to swing changes made last season that “just don’t work for me anymore.”
Last season — a good one, Clifford swinging his way out of Binghamton and getting his first taste of Syracuse — he adjusted his posture and tried to stay back more. All his life he had dived his front shoulder in, and he tweaked his approach so he was less aggressive with the lunge. It worked.
“I want to say [Marcus] Semien was the guy who said it,” Clifford said. “He’s like, ‘All feels have an expiration date.’ ”
That approach expired in June, and Clifford is now working on finding a balance between staying back and diving in. Through the tiny sample size of eight July games in which he has posted an .816 OPS with a pair of home runs, he believes he is closer to finding “that middle ground,” he said.
Perhaps a late-season hot streak can translate to a promotion — for a prospect who is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this winter, anyway — that he has been craving. Regardless, though, Clifford looms as another instance of poorly timed regression within the Mets system.
Only the Mariners and Diamondbacks have received less value from their first basemen this season, according to Baseball Reference WAR. The Mets’ first basemen entered Sunday with a .648 OPS, which was the second-worst in the game. A hobbled Jorge Polanco, Jared Young, Mark Vientos, Brett Baty and Eric Wagaman have not been the answer in a post-Pete Alonso world.
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Clifford could not separate himself and be the answer at first either, just like Jonah Tong and Jack Wenninger were not ready in time to save this Mets season.
There is still time to save some value from the trade-deadline haul.
On Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, Clifford saw six pitches from fellow lefty Jamie Arnold and walked without taking a cut, showing discipline in a showcase spot in which “I was ready to swing,” he said.
He feels better at the plate. It is worth reiterating he is 22.
“Trying to find new things that work [at the plate] took a little bit longer, obviously, than I would have liked,” Clifford said. “But looking to build and continue to have a good July.”
