Ryan Clifford remains Mets best but flawed hope to salvage 2023 sell-off

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.

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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 Cliffor...