‘Bow before the KING’: did gay icon Grimace save the Mets’ season?

The New York Mets were in disarray. The club with Major League Baseball’s largest payroll, $308m, had started the season 29-37. They were primed for a second-straight year of rebuilding despite their massive outlay on talent. Less than a month earlier, on 15 May, hedge fund magnate and team owner Steve Cohen all but admitted in a since deleted tweet that the club would be selling off assets at the July trade deadline. “Not much we can do” until that time, he told a fan who had mentioned dismantling the roster.

Then an unlikely hero showed up. He was soft, purple, and blessed with the dad bod of a back-up catcher. And that hero was Grimace, a second-tier McDonald’s mascot who lacks the star power of Ronald McDonald, the political heft of Mayor McCheese or the dashing charisma of Hamburglar. Nevertheless, on 12 June he threw out the first pitch at CitiField and transformed the Mets’ season.

The team from Queens, who had been eight games below .500 before Grimace burst on to the scene, won that night. They won the next five games, too, and woke up Tuesday with a 34-37 record, just one game out of the final NL wildcard postseason spot. Since his arrival, Mets fans have been hailing the Grimace era, with online forums devoted to the effect he’s had on the club. “Bow before the KING” read one Reddit thread devoted to him, while Grimace, who has become a queer icon, has also drawn gay fans to cheer for the Mets.

“He definitely correlates with us going on this run,” said outfielder Brandon Nimmo when asked about Grimace’s contribution.

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A fleeting moment? Almost certainly. The spawn of a run at the playoffs? Probably not, but it’s possible. The Mets’ playoff odds have risen to about three-in-10, from one-in-10 at the start of June. Cohen’s prediction of trade deadline ignominy now has a substantial chance of not panning out.

What has improved for the Mets in the warm afterglow of Grimace’s appearance? Everything.

Mets hurlers have been mediocre this season, posting a staff-wide 4.08 earned-run average that ranked 18th in the league entering play before Tuesday night’s game against the World Series champion Texas Rangers, who they eviscerated 14-2 on Monday. Japanese star Kodai Senga, a revelation last season, has yet to pitch this season and has no clear timetable to return. Two more starters, Tylor Megill and David Peterson, have missed time. Closer Edwin Díaz was the toast of the town two seasons ago, but he missed all of last season after injuring himself during a celebration at the World Baseball Classic, and coughed up a number of excruciating blown saves on his return.

But Grimace’s brilliance on the pitching mound has been a shining example for the Mets’ own previously lagging, hurt arms. Some call it a small sample size; others say it’s the magic of the mascot. But in the first five games post-Grimace, the Mets had the third-best ERA in baseball (2.33) and were getting nearly seven full innings per start on their last trip through the rotation. Díaz, after spending a few weeks on the injured list, returned to toss back-to-back scoreless innings with three strikeouts and no walks allowed.

Although we know very little about the McDonald mascot’s batting ability, the offense has enjoyed its own post-Grimace revolution. The Mets hit 11 home runs and scored 45 runs over those five games, both tops in the majors. Shortstop Francisco Lindor, Nimmo, and designated hitter JD Martinez have each been tearing the cover off the baseball, the linchpins of an offensive hot streak, and the foundations of the Mets’ lineup. One can imagine first baseman Pete Alonso (who’s been just fine) and second-year catcher Francisco Álvarez (who’s been injured and not hitting well) getting it going. Then the Mets could have a shockingly deep lineup. They already have seven regulars who are above-average hitters, and that’s with second baseman Jeff McNeil, a former NL batting champion having a stunningly bad first two and a half months. He’s likely to hit better going forward or, at least, he can’t hit much worse – some fans have suggested trading McNeil to McDonald’s in return for Grimace, although it’s unclear who would pay the $41.75m left on McNeil’s contract.

It’s a far cry from where things might have been heading if the Mets hadn’t put together a nice streak – or, still, if they can’t sustain a higher level of play after their run inevitably evens out (the truth is that the Mets were neither as bad as their earlier slump in the season, or as good as their 6-0 in the post-Grimace era suggests). Alonso is a career-long Met in his final year under team control. With the Mets floundering, he appeared ticketed to be traded elsewhere in July, even if he has said he wants to stay with the club in the long-term. With the Mets getting things together, Alonso appears a lot likelier to finish the season in Flushing. The team could then issue him a qualifying offer in the offseason, at least getting a draft pick in return if he goes to a new club in free agency.

That may not seem like an ideal outcome. But the Mets at least now have multiple hands they could play, as opposed to the inevitably of selling. MLB’s recent expansion to three wildcard playoff teams per league has allowed mediocre clubs to remain in the postseason hunt deep into the summer. The Mets do not have to have a championship-caliber club to be part of the moshpit of nine National League teams currently within three or so games of each other for the final playoff spot. With merely another hot streak or two, the Mets would have a real opportunity to stay alive into October.

So, Cohen, it turns out, was right. There is indeed not much the Mets can do between now and the trade deadline. But when the end of July arrives, it seems possible that the Mets will be trying to win in 2024 rather than in 2025 and beyond.

Such is the power of Grimace. And there is a possibility he may have actually had a real effect on the team. A few weeks ago, morale was so low around the slumping team that (a now former) pitcher threw his glove into the stands and the players held a meeting to vent their frustration. It’s possible that the mindless distraction of the Grimace storyline has provided a welcome diversion for the players and helped them relax. Nimmo, who admittedly is known for his almost pathological goofy optimism, even suggested so.

“We need to come out here and have fun … we all grew up with this being a kid’s game, I think that’s a lot of fun adding Grimace to this so I’m all for it,” he said.

We’ll see where this run goes. In the meantime, other slumping teams may want to check when Colonel Sanders hits free agency.