Are the Mets starting to click offensively?
The Mets are starting to get on a roll. Plus, a boatload of injury updates, including a setback for A.J. Minter...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets have now won three straight, and four of five, after beating the Rockies 10-5 at Coors Field on Wednesday night (box)
RHP Freddy Peralta tossed five scoreless innings despite facing a lot of traffic, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out one
RHP Tobias Myers just didn’t have it in relief, allowing four earned runs on five hits, including giving up a pair of homers
LHP Brooks Raley, RHP Luke Weaver, LHP Sean Manaea, and RHP Devin Williams combined to allow just one earned run the rest of the way
LF Juan Soto hit his first career leadoff homer to get the scoring started with the Mets exploding offensively in the cold weather
2B Marcus Semien had a monster night at the plate, going 4-for-5 with a home run, a double, three runs scored, and two RBIs
CF Carson Benge continued his outstanding road trip with two hits, including a double, two runs scored, and a pair of RBIs
In all, six players had multi-hit nights as the Mets racked up 15 hits on a night when the lineup showed plenty of promise
Former Met and now Rangers OF Brandon Nimmo, back in New York for the first time, believes his trade to Texas was strictly a “baseball decision” (SNY)
LHP Cionel Pérez has signed a minor league deal with the Mets having last pitched for the Nationals (SNY)
Injury Updates 📰
A.J. Minter (left lat surgery) was pulled off his rehab assignment with Triple-A Syracuse because of left hip discomfort. The Mets say they aren’t too concerned
1B/DH Jorge Polanco (right wrist contusion) was off from baseball activities on Wednesday, and remains day-to-day. He isn’t expected to need a rehab assignment before coming back
OF Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine disc herniation) is feeling better but is back in New York
RHP Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation) played catch on Wednesday and will now begin the process of building back up
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
ICYMI: Get caught up on the latest episode of the Just Mets Podcast, in which Andrew and Rich recap all the hottest topics of this past non-losing week.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Play of the Game ⭐️
After Juan Soto had given the Mets the lead in the first inning, both offenses went a little quiet.
Until the fourth inning, that is.
The red-hot Carson Benge stepped to the plate with two runners on and no outs, before ripping a double to plate a pair and give the Mets a 3-0 lead. That really set the tone with New York going on to add to the lead extensively before the end of the sixth inning.
Down on the Farm 🌾
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 4 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
RHP Jack Wenninger (No. 6 prospect, Triple-A): 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
LF Jose Ramos (Double-A): 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR
OF John Bay (High-A): 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB
1B Randy Guzman (No. 24 prospect, Single-A): 1-for-2, 1 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 HR
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (14-22) at Rockies (14-23)
Where: Coors Field - Denver, CO
Starters: RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. LHP Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.07 ERA)
When: 3:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Things are starting to look up for the Mets, especially offensively ✍️
Well, Wednesday went about as well as you could hope for the Mets.
Freddy Peralta got the job done over five innings, despite facing a load of traffic and having a hard time breathing in the cold Colorado air.
And the offense broke out and struck early and often to pile on a bunch of runs and secure a third straight win.
A three-game winning streak? And four wins out of the last five? What world are we living in?!
Of course, as has been the case so far this season, even a routine win wasn’t perfect. Tobias Myers did his best to try and blow a big lead, while Sean Manaea continues to fade. And Mark Vientos is probably the least consistent player on this team at this point. You’d think his power would play at Coors Field, but through two games, he has just one hit after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts on Wednesday night.
But, after weeks filled with nothing but negatives, let’s focus on the positives today, shall we…
The offense.
Now, I’ll preface what I’m about to say by acknowledging that, yes, the Mets are playing in a very hitters-friendly ballpark right now. And they are playing the Rockies, who, after yesterday’s game, now officially have the worst record in all of baseball at 14-23. So putting up 10 runs on a single night at Coors Field probably won’t go down as the most impressive achievement of the season.
With that said, it is the way in which the lineup went about their work last night that offered some hope that maybe, just maybe, things are starting to click for this offense.
Firstly, Juan Soto showed that he could be a tantalizing option leading off at times this season. Hitting first in the order for just the fourth time in his career, Soto hit his first career leadoff homer to give the Mets an early lead in the first inning. The prospect of Soto doing damage from the very get-go, be it going long or just getting on base, could give manager Carlos Mendoza different lineup options even when Francisco Lindor is back healthy. Maybe mixing and matching Lindor and Soto in the leadoff spot against certain opponents and matchups could prove to be a beneficial secret weapon.
Secondly, the offense didn’t just rely on home runs on Wednesday. Sure, the team hit two, but most of the damage came from some clutch hitting. Carson Benge continued his red-hot road trip by lacing a two-run double in the top of the fourth inning, before Francisco Álvarez and Bo Bichette both hit RBI singles to cap off a four-run, eight-batter rally in the sixth. It is that ability to string together several hits at a time that will lead to real success for this offense.
Being able to grind down opposing pitchers and then pounce is the hallmark of any good lineup.
By the way, Benge is now hitting .278/.381/.556/.937 with five runs scored, four RBIs, and three walks over his last six games. He’s looking more and more like the real deal with each passing day, and his continued growth will only help to elevate the production from the bottom of the lineup.
As will what we saw from Marcus Semien last night.
The veteran went an impressive 4-for-5 with three runs scored and a pair of RBIs. He hit a double before blasting an important two-run homer in the ninth, one that effectively sealed the game after Colorado threatened to get back into the contest.
Now, granted, it is again important to remember that Semien’s most productive game as a Met came at Coors Field. And it is also worth noting that it came after a 2-for-15 start to the road trip. In other words, it is hard to put a lot of stock into one good night given the overall struggles. Regardless, Wednesday did show that Semien is still capable of producing at the plate, and if he can consistently put the ball in the air and make things happen, then there’s no reason why he couldn’t be even an average contributor towards the bottom of the lineup.
Semien’s key to success last night was being aggressive and driving the ball to all fields. Again, the environment would no doubt have helped. But if Semien can harness what went right for him on Wednesday and translate that into a more consistent approach, then maybe he could end up being a solid bat. He’s never going to be a great or even good offensive producer at this point in his career, but if he can just not be a net negative and instead find ways to contribute most nights, then that should be enough given the talent elsewhere in the lineup.
Overall, as was the case on Opening Day, the Mets’ path to success offensively is to be relentless, to string together tough at-bats, and to strike early and often. If they can stick to that formula, results should follow. After all, there are enough really good hitters in that lineup and, once Lindor, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr. return, there will be no excuses for the offense to struggle.
On the flip side to that, we’ve been here before. The Mets have shown flashes, only to then go stone cold for long periods. And, once again, beating up on the Rockies at Coors Field is hardly reason alone to get excited. This team needs to prove over the long run that it can be competitive offensively - and everywhere else - against good teams and on a daily basis.
There is potential with the offense. We just now need to see it over a larger sample size before we truly buy in.
Around the League 🚩
Former Braves owner and founder of CNN and TBS, Ted Turner, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 87 (MLB.com)
Tigers LHP Tarik Skubal underwent left elbow surgery on Wednesday and is expected to be back in around two months (NY Post), while teammate Framber Valdez received a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at a hitter (MLive)
INF Carlos Correa will undergo season-ending left ankle tendon surgery (MLB.com)
RHP Tyler Glasnow recorded his 1,000th career strikeout and Andy Pages hit three home runs with six RBIs as the Dodgers beat the Astros, 12-2
LHP Shane McClanahan tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings as the red-hot Rays shutout the Blue Jays 3-0 to complete the series sweep
1B Michael Busch’s bases-loaded walk lifted the Cubs to a 7-6 win over the Reds - Chicago’s eighth straight win and a 14th consecutive victory at home
RHP Paul Skenes fired eight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts as the Pirates shutout Arizona, 1-0