New York Mets Who Must Step Up for a Second-Half Run

The New York Mets officially finished the month of July with an abysmal 7-18 record.

After exiting the All-Star break with high hopes, they currently sit 9.5 games back in the NL Wild Card with just 58 games left in the regular season.

The team remained quiet on Tuesday as the MLB trade deadline came and went, which means the organization will have to look internally to help turn things around.

With the Mets still barely hanging on to contention in the National League, they'll need a few players to step it up over the next two months if they have any aspirations of playing deep into October.

Frank Francisco

The Mets closer has had a below average year for his standards so far in 2012.

Frank Francisco has converted 18 of 21 save opportunities this season, but his 4.97 ERA is the highest of his career.

He's currently recovering from a strained left oblique, but is close to returning to the bullpen hopefully sometime within the next week, according to the New York Daily News.

The Mets' bullpen has been shaky all season long, so it will be up to Francisco to improve upon his performance thus far and solidify the ninth inning for the struggling squad.

Jason Bay

Jason Bay has an absolutely horrendous average, hitting just .162 in the 36 games he's actually played this season.

According to ESPN, he's making $18,125,000 this year with one more season guaranteed on his contract and a vesting option with the club in 2014 based on playing time.

In other words, the Mets are screwed if this guy doesn't suddenly start producing.

Bay is a career .271 hitter who has 30 HR and 100 RBI potential, although he has yet to put up any numbers even remotely close to those since arriving in New York.

At this point, it looks as though it will take nothing short of a miracle to help Jason Bay return to his old form at the plate.

Johan Santana

Johan Santana is expected to return sometime next week from his stint on the 15-day DL, according to the New York Post.

The former Cy Young Award winner had struggled a bit before recently injuring his ankle, losing three consecutive starts in July which raised his ERA from 2.76 to 3.98.

Through his 19 starts so far this season, he's only been able to collect six wins in contrast to seven losses.

Santana has not posted a losing record since he made his first major league appearance with the Minnesota Twins in 2000.

If he hopes to keep that streak and the Mets playoff hopes alive, he'll need to return from the DL and immediately start giving the team some quality outings.

Ike Davis

The Mets had high hopes for Ike Davis entering the 2012 season, but the lefty first baseman is hitting a disappointing .208 on the year thus far.

Despite the poor average, he has shown some signs of power with his 20 home runs and 60 RBI.

If he is going to remain in the four or five slot in the order for the rest of the year, however, he'll need to continue driving in runs while improving on his low average and .273 on-base percentage.

The Mets don't expect him to hit three home runs every night as he did against the Diamondbacks last Saturday, but they do expect him to be a bit more consistent at the plate.

Matt Harvey

Matt Harvey stunned the San Francisco Giants in his first big league start last Thursday, throwing five and one-third scoreless innings while allowing only three hits.

His 11 strikeouts on the day set a new team record for most Ks in a major league debut.

In his second performance Tuesday night, he allowed just two earned and four hits through six innings in a loss to the Giants.

With Dillon Gee likely out for the season, it appears as though the 23-year-old hurler has earned himself a spot in the starting rotation for at least the rest of 2012.

If he can continue to throw the way he has in his first two outings, then the Mets have finally found a sound solution to their woes at the bottom of the rotation.