A typical day for the Mets and Kodai Senga led to a typical loss
Senga stunk, so did the offense, as the Mets sank back to 9 games under .500 for the season
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets’ offense remained largely stagnant on Tuesday, but at least they scored some runs, losing to the Reds 5-3 and dropping another series (box)
RHP Kodai Senga made his first start since April 26. He finished his day allowing four runs on two hits and four walks in four innings of work; he struck out five Reds
LHP Cionel Pérez allowed another run on three hits in his inning, but Austin Warren, Huascar Brazobán, and Luke Weaver kept the final three frames scoreless
Bo Bichette’s breakout continued with another two-hit day; he also drove in one of the Mets’ three runs
Mark Vientos hit a two-run pinch-hit homer in the sixth, and Juan Soto, Marcus Semien, Francisco Álvarez, and Eric Wagaman also provided hits, but none of them directly resulted in runs being scored
Mets hitters worked six walks in Tuesday’s game, but they also went 2-for-11 with RISP and left all of them stranded; they also struck out 11 times as a unit
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Kodai Senga was activated from the 15-day IL
SS Zack Short was activated to the Major League team
SS Vidal Bruján was designated for assignment
RHP Jonathan Pintaro was optioned to Syracuse
OF Nick Lucky was signed to a Minor League deal
Injury Updates 🩺
RHP Clay Holmes (fractured right fibula) started playing “light catch” in June but is still in the early stages of his rehab; Holmes will need 6-8 weeks to heal, followed by another six-week Spring Training-style build-up process
Play of the Game 🙄
There was technically still a full game left to play, but the tone for this one felt like it was set almost immediately.
After walking the first two batters he faced, Kodai Senga hung a 2-1 sinker right in the heart of the zone. Reds rookie Sal Stewart (who had been slumping entering this series, of course) promptly parked it in the left field bleachers, putting Cincy up 3-0 instantly.
Who’s Hot 🔥
Luke Weaver has tallied 19.0 IP with zero runs allowed on 10 hits, four walks, and 22 strikeouts; he last allowed a run on April 30
Over his last 27 games, Bo Bichette is hitting .312/.342/.550 with six doubles, a triple, six home runs with 23 RBI, 34 hits and 17 runs scored
Over his last 29 games, Juan Soto is hitting .314/.419/.648 with two doubles, 11 home runs with 23 RBI, 33 hits and 21 runs scored
Down on the Farm 🌾
CF Nick Morabito (No.11 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB
1B JT Schwartz (Double-A): 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI
C Daiverson Gutierrez (No. 24 prospect, High-A): 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 R, 1 RBI
RHP Dakota Hawkins (High-A): 4.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
RF Yohairo Cuevas (Single-A): 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BRK | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (32-41) @ Reds (35-37)
Where: Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati, OH
Starters: RHP Nolan McLean (3-4, 4.01 ERA) vs. LHP Nick Lodolo (2-1, 5.21 ERA)
When: 12:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Kodai Senga and the offense looked normal again on Tuesday (as in, bad) ✍️
I haven’t covered a Mets win in weeks.
Go ahead, check the tapes: the last time the Mets won on a day I had to write one of these came on May 30th; I have covered a lone Mets victory since May 19th. They’re doing this on purpose, I know it…
Apologies in advance if this ends up being drastically shorter or tangibly more emotional than my op-eds usually are, but I’m really at a loss today. Not because they lost, they do that plenty; it just feels like I’ve already covered this team from every side they’ve shown us this season. They don’t have many: this team’s taken on a pretty rudimentary shape, and nearly every angle is extremely acute.
Honestly, I really don’t see much point in analyzing Kodai Senga’s performance all that deeply, mostly because he delivered exactly what he did in his first five starts this season, particularly in his last few starts in April. He surrendered two homers for the third time in his six starts this season and allowed his season-high in walks. I looked at his pitch chart and Savant breakdown from Tuesday’s outing and compared it to his other performances this season…and almost nothing’s changed from when we saw him last.
I suppose if I had to feign excitement about something from his return, it would be him tallying his highest strikeout total since April 5th; or I suppose maybe there’s a silver lining or two to be squinted at in his fastball velocity staying even through all four innings, or the fact that he was getting swings-and-misses. But whether he’s generating a 20% whiff rate or 32% whiff rate (he’s oscillated between both marks in every other start), it’s irrelevant if he’s also regularly giving up homers and burying the team early; it matters even less if he isn’t lasting more than four innings, which has happened in the majority of his outings this season.
Sure, this is his first taste of big league action in well over a month, but it’s not like his rehab starts in the minors were going that much better. I hate to say it, but I don’t think anything else they throw at him is going to help at this point. Though the team says they’re “pretty sure” he’ll stay in the rotation, I can’t help but feel like Senga’s time in New York is about up…or should be, anyway.
So, here’s some analysis for you - he is no longer a major league pitcher.
And what’s there to talk about with the offense that won’t make you (or me) any more frustrated to discuss? The plethora of ground balls? The litany of LOBs? Hard-hit balls that don’t go any further than the shallow outfield?
Bo Bichette had two hits; terrific. Juan Soto and Marcus Semien keep hitting, too; great. But those hits still, more often than not, aren’t consistently translating to runs, and in this series, not even runner advancements. The Mets put 24 balls in play yesterday and turned them into three runs — it goes without saying, but as a reminder, not all contact is good contact.
This month, the Mets have scored five or more runs in five games. That’s somewhat encouraging, though we’ve known since literally Opening Day that they’re capable of hanging a bunch of runs on the board. The issue remains their ability to string together more than a handful of days in a row in which they play a competent offensive game. For all the games they’ve scored five-plus runs this month, there are still nearly twice as many where they’ve scored less than three. In these last two games, the Mets have left 23 (twenty-three!!) runners stranded; that they scored three runs at all feels miraculous. They were whiffing like crazy yesterday in particular, coming up empty on nearly 37% of hacks as a unit; only Carson Benge and Marcus Semien didn’t miss anything. Mark Vientos was the only Met to get a barrel on the ball all day; one-third of the Mets’ outs came by way of groundballs.
Simply, this is not functional. The big-scoring games are great when they happen, but they are way too few and far between to justify a team-wide approach that hasn’t proven reliable since the moment camp started in February. No matter what bad habits persist, the Mets are largely doing the same thing they’ve been doing for months: swing a lot and hope for the best. Newsflash: it’s. not. working.
I don’t know. I’ve already abandoned any expectations I had for this group, yet all too often they still seem to undershoot even the nothing I’m anticipating. For every one big day, they have three quiet ones; for every hitter that starts to break out, two more are slumping; the only predictable part of this team is the bullpen, and even that’s been a bit touch-and-go in recent weeks (though palpably less so than the rest of the roster.)
I sincerely wish I had a cheerier disposition today — but alas, the Mets play again this afternoon. I can only assume Cincy starter Nick Lodolo will look like a Cy Young candidate.
And yes, of course I’ll be watching. I’m a Mets fan, after all.
Around the League 🚩
The San Francisco Giants are reportedly willing to part ways with all of Rafael Devers, Willy Adames, and Matt Chapman at the trade deadline, but are not going to be moving Logan Webb or any young talent (MLB.com)
Cal Raleigh returned from the injured list (the first stint of his career) and had an immediate impact, delivering a seventh-inning game-winning two-run single to push the Mariners past the Orioles, 3-1
In his own return from the IL, Braves backstop Drake Baldwin hit the longest homer in MLB yet this season, a 473-foot tank off San Francisco starter Adrian Houser; the game was then suspended in the second inning due to rain with Atlanta trailing, 3-2
George Springer’s 300th career homer was one of three bombs the Blue Jays hit in their 6-1 win over the Red Sox in Boston
Kyle Schwarber made his first start at 1B since 2021, and hit his MLB-leading 25th homer of the year in the process
One thing that Mendoza could do is dictate how ball-strike challenges are used. Manage better, man!
Where did the Braves get this Baldwin kid???....hes been effective all year. Looks like they retooled for a few years and now are dominating the NL East. The last time they were NOT dominating...Clinton was President.