Bats come alive late but starting pitching again dooms Mets
Luis Severino laid an egg on the mound as New York dropped a second straight game to Milwaukee. Plus, welcome to the 2024 Mets experience
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets showed some fight with four runs in the final two innings in a 7-6 loss to the Brewers on Saturday (box)
RHP Luis Severino got off to a promising start but things quickly escalated as he allowed six earned runs on 12 hits in five innings of work
RHP Adam Ottavino came in and gave up a run on three hits - the only run given up by the bullpen
RHP Yohan Ramírez threw behind 1B Rhys Hoskins and was ejected, with Hoskins going 3-for-4 on the day to have the last laugh (video)
RHP Edwin Díaz made his return for the Mets five hundred and thirty-seven days since his last major league outing, touching 99 mph on his fastball and striking out one
The bats finally woke up with the Mets hitting three homers on the day - a solo shot from Francisco Álvarez and Pete Alonso and a three-run home run from Brett Baty
After Saturday’s game, the Mets have now lost 9 of their last 10 games against the Brewers, dating back to 9/21/2022
The Mets are now 0-2 to begin a season for the first time since 2014
Pete Alonso… 📚
Hit his 193rd career home run, passing Howard Johnson to move into sole possession of fourth place on the Mets all-time list
Now has 499 career RBI, the tenth best mark in club history
His 193 home runs and 499 RBI since his debut in 2019 are the most of anyone in MLB
Prospect Watch 🔎
3B Mark Vientos (Triple-A): 2-for-3, HR (1), 2B, BB
2B Yolmer Sánchez (Triple-A): 2-for-4, 1 RBI
RHP Jose Buttó (Triple-A): 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 KK, 84 pitches
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (0-2) vs. Brewers (2-0)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill vs RHP Colin Rea
When: 1:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Welcome to the 2024 New York Mets experience… 📝
To borrow a line from the outstanding Mad Men series - if you haven’t seen it yet, shame on you - the first two days of the 2024 season for your New York Mets have not been great, Bob.
While there were more positive signs to come from the 7-6 loss to the Brewers on Saturday than the Opening Day dud, the first two games of this opening series have been hugely frustrating and disappointing in equal measure.
Luis Severino, despite coming out firing in the first inning, soon collapsed like a cheap pack of cards and proceeded to lay a Godzilla-sized egg on the mound in his first start as a Met. The righty allowed six earned runs on 12 hits in five innings of work, including balking in a run. It was the second consecutive day in which the Mets were let down by their starting pitching.
He didn’t walk anyone but got absolutely shelled, with nothing positive to take away from the outing.
And, ladies & gentlemen, welcome to the 2024 New York Mets experience.
As we all discussed ad nauseam all offseason, the starting pitching is going to be an emotional rollercoaster for the entirety of the 2024 season. And, given that teams live or die by their rotation, the Mets are going to have to learn to navigate the good, the bad and the downright ugly over the next 160 games.
That’s just how life is going to be for this team in 2024.
Crushing lows followed by euphoric highs followed by maddening moments. All in the same game too.
We saw all of that in Game 2 of 162 on Saturday. Despite Severino’s stinker, the Mets actually had a fighting chance going into the ninth inning thanks to an explosion of offense from the lineup. Francisco Álvarez had a monster day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBIs.
Also, he should never bat as low as seventh again. Not in this configuration, anyway.
Pete Alonso blasted his first homer of the year and created some more history in the process. And Brett Baty got the biggest confidence booster possible by hitting the first 3-run home run of his career.
Ultimately, the comeback fell short but the fact that the bats broke out in a big way was a major positive and a good sign heading into the series finale on Sunday. The fact this lineup rallied late is also something you can feel good about.
Plus, the bullpen looked solid again outside of Adam Ottavino giving up a run. And, more importantly, Edwin Díaz made his return and looked pretty damn good on the mound in his first major league game since 2022.
And it is still early. I mean, we’re two games into an absolute marathon of a season and there are still a slew of things to shake out. Don’t forget, J.D. Martinez will be up soon and that lineup will be a lot better for his presence in it.
But, I’m just telling you, this is what following / covering the Mets is going to feel like in 2024.
There are going to be a lot of ups and downs, with arguably more of the latter than the former. That’s just the nature of the beast when you are putting all your hope in a starting rotation that has a lot of bust potential. We always knew the possibility was there for Severino to struggle with command of his fastball and implode. When he has it, as he did in spring training, he’s going to be great and electric to watch. When he doesn’t have it, as was the case on Saturday, then the wheels are going to fall off and all hell is going to break loose.
To use a baseball analogy, there’s just going to be a lot of swing-and-misses with this team this year. Tylor Megill may go out and pitch an absolute gem on Sunday, the bats deliver again and we’re all that little bit more happier going into Monday. Then the starting pitching will crap the bed again, the offense won’t do enough and we’ll be pissed all over again.
And on and on the cycle goes.
That may sound defeatist - especially two games in - but I’ve always tried to be a realist when it comes to the 2024 season for the Mets. And, as we’ve seen through the first two games, the overall experience this year won’t be for the fainthearted.
Buckle up.
Not a good look
Okay, so I just want to weigh in with my quick thoughts on the whole Rhys Hoskins - Jeff McNeil situation. Obviously there was a lot of bad blood between the two after the game on Friday and the Mets had an opportunity to handle their business early in Game 2 on Saturday.
But they didn’t.
Instead, they let Hoskins absolutely torment them all afternoon. Hoskins went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and four RBIs. With the boos raining down, the veteran let his bat do the talking and, ultimately, had the last laugh.
Only after Hoskins had embarrassed them and kicked their butts all day long, did the Mets act. Yohan Ramírez threw over his head, a complete mishandling of the entire situation.
Luis Severino should have come out and sent a clear message to Hoskins early, and done it in a way where he didn’t face the risk of getting ejected. Instead, the Mets allowed Hoskins to bully them all day before taking action.
As Ron Darling said in the SNY booth: “It’s too late to throw at a guy after he’s beaten your brains in.”
I couldn’t have put it any better myself, Ron.
Hours after the event, I still can’t quite wrap my head around it and I still can’t work out what the Mets were exactly thinking. It was just a bone-headed move and an embarrassing one at that.
I don’t know about sending a message. It was more like the Mets were raising the white flag. And it wasn’t a good look.
Around the League 🚩
RHP Grayson Rodriguez tied a career-high with nine strikeouts and INF Gunnar Henderson went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs as the Orioles beat the Angels, 13-4
Pirates RHP Jared Jones dazzled in his MLB debut, striking out 10 as Pittsburgh beat Miami, 9-3
OF Jarred Kelenic had a big day for the Braves, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs and making a stunning play in the field as Atlanta beat Philadelphia, 12-4
OF Juan Soto hit his first home run in the Pinstripes as the Yankees came from behind yet again to beat the Astros, 5-3
Cubs LHP Justin Steele has a Grade 1 left hamstring strain and is expected to miss all of April
Why doesn’t anybody mention that Shorts error in the first inning, led to three runs.. take away those three runs and the Mets win the game.. well we can’t predict that the Mets would win the game, but they wouldn’t have been three runs up there that were unearned
Ah the blog covering the Mets crapping on them 2 games in, what a surprise. You would have preferred a bullpen game? Thats what you would have had. It’s clear that MLB needs to protect Hoskins at all costs.