Álvarez welcomes himself back, Mets pitching saves the day

Francisco Álvarez's two-run home run delivers the Mets their 8th win in nine games. Plus, how the bullpen continues to save this team on a daily basis.

What’s up with the Mets? ⚾

• The Mets got back on the winning track with a 2-0 victory over the Nationals on Saturday afternoon (box)

• RHP Clay Holmes pitched well around a rain delay in the first inning, hurling five scoreless innings while allowing just four hits with two strikeouts

• C Francisco Álvarez gave the Mets all the offense they needed as he clubbed a two-run home run, his first long ball of the season, in the second inning

• SS Francisco Lindor went 3-for-4 at the plate as he continued his hot hitting

• New York’s bullpen was spotless once again as Danny Young, Reed Garrett, A.J. Minter, Max Kranick and Edwin Díaz combined to pitch four scoreless innings

• The Mets now have five shutout wins this season – their first shutout win last year didn’t come until July 11th

• Mets 23-year-old RHP Raimon Gomez dazzled in Single-A St. Lucie as he topped out at 104.5 MPH in his latest start

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Injury Updates 🏥

• LHP A.J. Minter exited the game with left triceps tightness – he is expected to go on the 15-day injured list and undergo an MRI

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Who’s Hot? 🔥

• RHP Clay Holmes has a 1.13 ERA with just two runs allowed and 16 strikeouts over his last three starts (16 innings pitched)

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Who’s Cold? 🥶

• After looking like he was coming out of his early season slump, Juan Soto is now 3-for-his-last-20 (.150) with no extra-base hits, no RBI and two strikeouts over his last five games

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Play of the Game ⭐️

Well, when you’ve only got one run-scoring hit in an entire game, it wasn’t particularly difficult to choose the play of the game for yesterday.

In just his second game of the season after missing the first several weeks due to a fractured bone in his hand, Francisco Álvarez reminded the Mets of the type of impact he can make in their lineup. New York’s backstop was able to muscle an up-and-in breaking pitch to the opposite field and over the wall for a two-run home run — his first of the season — giving the club a 2-0 lead they’d never relinquish.

For a Mets offense that has been middling at best, it cannot be overstated how much the threat of power that Álvarez brings with him can change games going forward.

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• SS Jett Williams (No. 2 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4

• RHP Raimon Gomez (Single-A): 3 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K

• 3B Trace Willhoite (Single-A): 1-for-3, HR (3), 3 RBI

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK (PPD) | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR (PPD)

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Today’s Game 🗓️

Match-up: Mets (19-8) at Nationals (12-15)

Where: Nationals Park — Washington, D.C.

Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.09 ERA) vs. LHP Mitchell Parker (3-1, 1.39 ERA)

When: 1:35 PM EDT

Where to Watch: WPIX

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The Mets bullpen has been their unexpected savior ✍️

What can you say about the Mets bullpen at this point? What some may have viewed as an area of weakness or at minimum a large question mark entering the season is now proving to be one of New York’s biggest strengths early this year.

It’s amazing to think that we’ve already gotten to the point where if the Mets have a late lead, it’s a near certainty that they’re going to walk away with a win (Friday night’s defensive miscues notwithstanding). The Mets bullpen has been so good early on this season that it’s somehow flying under the radar as I feel as if we’re almost taking for granted just how good they’ve been so far.

Following Saturday afternoon’s win where they stacked up another four scoreless innings, Mets relievers now rank third in all of baseball with a 2.46 ERA this season — trailing only the Padres and Giants.

If you were to look up and down the stats sheet for this bullpen, you’d be astounded to see that nearly every single one of these relievers has been largely spotless early on this season:

LHP Danny Young — 4.32 ERA (10 appearances)
RHP Max Kranick — 2.70 ERA (11 appearances)
RHP Reed Garrett — 0.00 ERA (13 appearances)
RHP Huascar Brazobán — 1.65 ERA (12 appearances)
RHP José Buttó — 2.51 ERA (9 appearances)
RHP Ryne Stanek — 2.79 ERA (11 appearances)
LHP A.J. Minter — 1.64 ERA (13 appearances)
RHP Edwin Díaz — 4.50 ERA (12 appearances)

It’s been incredible to see that everyone other than Danny Young, who has pitched better lately and likely won’t stick around on the roster long term, and the closer Edwin Díaz has been largely flawless. And even Díaz, who has had a habit of looking shaky at many times early on this season, still hasn’t blown a save – after Saturday’s win he’s now 7-for-7 in that category.

What’s even more impressive is how this Mets bullpen has really done a remarkable job at covering up some of the other flaws and facets that aren’t quite clicking yet on this team. It’s crazy to say about a team that has the best record in baseball at 19-8, but there are a lot of things that actually haven’t gone the way the Mets would’ve expected to early on this season.

The offense has had moments, but they’ve largely underperformed expectations over these first 27 games of the season. Prior to last night’s game New York ranked 17th in baseball in total runs scored, 18th in home runs and 27th in batting average with runners in scoring position.

On top of that, they’ve had some of their biggest sluggers get off to slow starts in Juan Soto and Mark Vientos. While there still isn’t anything to worry about with Soto long-term, he has made very little impact with his bat early on this season. Over his first 98 at-bats, Soto is hitting an uncharacteristic .235/.356/.378 with three home runs, five doubles, 12 RBI and a .734 OPS.

Similarly, Vientos was expected to make a major impact with his power bat this season but has had massive struggles early on. Over his first 88 at-bats, the third baseman is batting .193/.276/.341 with two home runs, five doubles, a triple, 10 RBI, 21 strikeouts and a .617 OPS.

With two of their top sluggers struggling, the bottom of their lineup being weakened by injury, underperformance at the DH position and an overall horrid start with runners in scoring position, the Mets haven’t given their pitching staff much margin for error early on this season.

Despite that slim amount of breathing room given to them by the offense, alongside a starting rotation that – while incredibly effective – has not given this team much length, this bullpen is doing amazing work by not only doing their own jobs but covering up any warts there currently are with other facets of the team.

With reinforcements to the rotation likely coming over the next few months, certain starters could get moved into the pen to help bolster things, as well. The club should also get their stud set-up man Dedniel Núñez back soon, too, which can only help matters. And Brooks Raley will be a wildcard as a left-handed option in the second half of the year now that the club as re-signed him.

You’d expect for the scales to tip a bit, with the club’s offense (hopefully) getting things into gear as any potential regression to the mean kicks in for these relievers, but there’s no reason to think that this bullpen can’t continue to be a strength for this team moving forward.

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Around the League 🚩

• Dbacks 3B Eugenio Suárez became the 19th player in baseball history to hit four home runs in one game, but Arizona lost to the Braves 8-7 in 10 innings

• Red Sox CF Jarren Duran pulled off a straight steal of home plate (the third of his career) in Boston’s 7-3 win vs the Guardians

• Cardinals 3B Nolan Arenado crushed a walk-off home run to defeat the Brewers, 6-5

• The Phillies ended their five-game losing streak thanks to an offensive breakout in their 10-4 win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field

• Giants C Patrick Bailey delivered with a pinch-hit, walk-off single to lift the club to a 3-2 win over the Rangers