What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets dropped their opening game of the series against the White Sox after losing 6-4 in Chicago on Friday night (box)
LHP Sean Manaea’s night started off fine with five scoreless innings, but he melted down in the sixth after giving up three straight home runs to blow a four-run lead. His night ended with four earned runs allowed on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts
The implosion was complete in the bottom of the ninth when LHP Jefry Yan gave up a walk-off two-run homer to seal a tough loss
2B Marcus Semien went 2-for-4 with an RBI single to get the Mets on the board in the second, while 3B Brett Baty’s two-run double made it a 3-0 game in the fourth
DH Bo Bichette hit a solo bomb in the fifth inning but the rest of the offense struggled with CF A.J Ewing and SS Francisco Lindor going a combined 0-for-8 at the top of the order, while C Francisco Alvarez went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts
Injury Updates 🏥
INF Mark Vientos (fractured right hand) began a rehab assignment for Double-A Binghamton on Friday, going 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts as the team’s DH
Stat of the Day 📈
LHP Nate Lavender went scoreless over 1.1 innings on Friday, becoming just the third pitcher in Mets history to begin his career with at least eight consecutive scoreless appearances. Joe Smith (2007 with 17) and Jack Leathersich (2010 with 10) were the others
Play of the Game 🙃
Ouch. That was a tough one.
The Mets imploded in the worst way possible in the South Side of Chicago on Friday night, and it all started with Sean Manaea in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Having tossed five scoreless innings and with his offense backing up his efforts, all Manaea needed to do was get through one more inning. However, after walking a batter, the veteran lefty proceeded to give up a two-run blast to Miguel Vargas that cut the Mets’ lead in half.
Clearly struggling, Manaea was somewhat questionably left in the game and allowed back-to-back-to-back homers, with Vargas’ two-run shot proving to be the moment that shifted the game in the White Sox’s favor.
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the latest midweek edition of The Just Mets Podcast, Andrew Claudio recaps yet another Mets series victory as they take 2/3 from the Padres and continue their red hot play since the trade deadline.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Jack Wenninger (No. 9 prospect, Triple-A): 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
RF MJ Melendez (Triple-A): 2-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 2B
2B Jefferson Rojas (No. 1 prospect, Double-A): 2-for-5, 1 R, 3 RBIs, 1 HR
CF Yonatan Henriquez (High-A): 3-for-5, 4 R, 5 RBIs, 1 BB, 1 2B, 2 HR
LF Aidan Smith (No. 16 prospect, High-A): 3-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 HR
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (58-71) at White Sox (67-61)
Where: Rate Field - Chicago, IL
Starters: RHP Christian Scott (4-3, 3.51 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Castillo (4-9, 4.99 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez are on different paths right now ✍️
Before we do anything else, let’s just acknowledge that Friday night was an absolute stinker.
It also served as a sobering reminder of why this team finds itself in its current situation. For as good as his turnaround has been, Sean Manaea’s flaws were on display for all to see in just an ugly sixth inning. You also have to wonder why he wasn’t pulled after giving up the first of three consecutive homers, given that he started to struggle in the fifth inning.
And, as cool as a story as Jefry Yan has been, he’s still very raw, and we witnessed that firsthand on Friday night. He struggled, and he ultimately sealed his team’s fate. Plus, while I was all for Yan having some fun with his post-strikeout celebrations, we saw the downside of that last night when he celebrated too early and ended up walking the batter, setting the stage for Chicago to eventually land the knockout blow. It just isn’t a good look, and Yan is going to need to learn to harness that emotion if he’s to stick around.
Still, this team will have off-nights, and that’s been easy to forget during this recent hot streak, although they did beat themselves on Friday, which is the frustrating bit.
So, it’s ok. Given where we are with this team on this date on the calendar, these issues are expected.
With that said, there were two developments last night that transcend the result itself. Let’s start on a positive.
Bo Bichette stayed hot with a solo home run in the fifth inning. He’s now hitting .372/.449/.651/.1.100 over his last 12 games. More importantly, he’s shown plenty of signs of progress since the All-Star break, following what was just a really poor start to his Mets career.
Now, per recent reports from Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Bichette is highly unlikely to opt out of his contract this offseason. Although to be fair, that shouldn’t come as a surprise given that Bichette is set to make $42 million next year. He’s not going to get that on the open market, especially in the wake of his disastrous first half of the year.
At first blush, giving $42 million to a guy who has been worse than underwhelming is a tough pill to swallow, especially when you consider that the front office has a lot of work to do to improve this roster. But, as I mentioned earlier, I think recent developments should ease those concerns somewhat.
Not only is Bichette hitting at a high level right now, but he’s showing that he’s getting more and more comfortable. That’s really important. He’s clearly settling in and becoming more at ease in a Mets uniform. I think we sometimes over blow how hard it is to play in New York, but I also think we downplay it in certain instances too. Maybe Bichette just needed a little time to transition playing for a new franchise in the biggest market, and now he’s had that time to adjust; we’re seeing the real version of Bo.
He’s clicking at just the right time, and maybe he’ll be more motivated than ever before to show that he can produce for the Mets over a full season in 2027.
Furthermore, Bichette has settled in at third base too. While he’s never going to be a great defender, he can probably be at least serviceable defensively going forward, or until the Mets find their long-term third baseman. In the meantime, Bichette’s real value clearly comes offensively, and he’s starting to show just why he’s so dangerous with runners in scoring position.
Granted, $42 million is still a lot of money, and maybe he will never be worth that, but the version of Bichette we’re seeing right now will be able to help this team get back to contender status. His bat and ability to come through in clutch situations will only help the offensive core that is currently being forged here.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Francisco Alvarez.
The catcher went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts on Friday and now has eight strikeouts in his last five games alone as a result.
If you look through a wider lens, Alvarez is hitting just .164/.325/.269/.594 with one home run over his last 21 games. He has struck out at least two times in 9 of the 15 games he’s played in August, and has struck out in 34 of his last 90 plate appearances over 74 official at-bats. If you widen the lens a little more, the catcher is slashing just .193/.343/.386 in the second half of the season.
We’ve been here so many times before with Alvarez that it is hard to really know what to say, but this is hardly going to fill the front office with optimism. Plus, not only is Alvarez not hitting, but he’s consistently making poor decisions at the plate. He swings at everything and shows no plate discipline whatsoever. I don’t know what the Mets can do to fix that, but they need to really get to work with Alvarez throughout the offseason because he can’t continue to be this bad offensively.
I came around to keeping the catcher at the Trade Deadline because there is talent there, but we can’t keep resting on that. He’s actually got to show that talent on a consistent basis at some point. Because if he’s not hitting, he’s not exactly great defensively, so what is he offering? I’d be way more inclined to give Luis Torrens the majority of playing time given how hot he’s been, coupled with just how reliable he is. Plus, if Alvarez can’t fix certain things during the offseason, then I’d give him a short leash next year and ride with Torrens.
Overall, while Bichette is showing that he could be a key part of this core in 2027, Alvarez just continues to do the complete opposite and I’m not sure how much longer we can make excuses for him.
Around the League 🚩
Dodgers President Stan Kasten told reporters that the Dodgers are not for sale (The Athletic)
Brewers RHP Jacob Misiorowski tossed six scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over the Braves
RHP Cam Schlittler threw six innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts to help the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 3-1
Red Sox 1B Willson Contreras launched a 452-foot moonshot in Boston’s 6-4 win over the Giants
Orioles 1B Pete Alonso blasted his 30th homer of the year and recorded three RBIs in Baltimore’s 5-3 win over the Rays
Guardians 2B Travis Bazzana went 4-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBIs to help Cleveland beat the Rockies 9-1
I had to torture myself by looking up Vientos' 2024 post season: "Mark Vientos had a batting average of .327 with 18 hits, 5 homers, 14 RBIs and 8 runs scored in 13 games in the 2024 postseason."
Baty, Alvarez and Vientos are busts. They were supposed to be our farm system’s shining gems. Instead they are worthless on the field and in the trading market. Counting on them as our next generation has proved to be disastrous.