Happy Jeff! Mets pull off thrilling extra inning victory against the Braves
Plus, a case for Francisco Lindor's MVP candidacy, and what should the Mets plan be with José Buttó the rest of the way?
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets walked off the Braves in the tenth to take the series opener 3-2 (Box)
LF Jeff McNeil picked up the game-winning single and went 2-for-4 on the night. It was his second career walk-off hit and his first since July 2021
SS Francisco Lindor hit another home run and drove in two. Lindor’s HR was his 99th with the team which places him at seventeenth on the Mets all-time list
RHP Luis Severino got the start and pitched 5.0 innings while giving up two runs on seven hits. He also struck out six and walked two. It was his twentieth start of the season which is the first time he has reached 20 starts since 2018
RHP José Buttó came in relief and pitched three scoreless innings and struck out four. When he entered he stranded two runners to end the sixth inning and has
stranded all six inherited runners this season
RHP Edwin Díaz struck out two and walked one in his appearance in the ninth
This was the team’s seventh walk-off win of the season which ties them with Colorado for the third-most in the majors this season. This was their second walk-off against the Braves this year
The Mets improved to 6-8 in extra inning games and they are 21-11 in one-run games and are now six games over .500. The last time they were six games over .500 was April 2023
Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza announced RHP Tylor Megill will start on Saturday in place of the injured Christian Scott
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets are in sole possession of the second Wild Card spot and are just a half game behind Atlanta for the top spot. They’re a half game ahead of the Padres for the last spot. There are 60 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 56% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the 9th easiest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 4-3
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. STL: 3-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
Injury Updates 🏥
OF Harrison Bader (sprained ankle) remains day-to-day, but was out of the lineup against the Braves on Thursday, but was available off the bench
OF Starling Marte (Bone bruise in knee) recently began baseball activities. While Marte says his knee feels good and believes he’s close to returning, he still needs to start and tolerate a running program
Francisco Lindor for MVP? 🏆
Francisco Lindor extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He is hitting .359 (14-39) with six home runs and 14 RBI during that span and is the first Met since Yoenis Céspedes (4/11-4/13/17) to have five home runs in a span of four games or fewer.
He is second in the NL and tied for seventh in the majors with 49 extra-base hits
Lindor is third in the National League in fWAR (5.0), behind only SS Elly De La Cruz (5.1) and DH Shohei Ohtani (5.5)
He is eighth in the NL in stolen bases (20), 13th in OPS (.821), fourth in runs scored (69), fifth in home runs (22)
He is eighth in the NL in Outs Above Average (OAA) with 8, which is the third best mark among all qualified shortstops, behind only Elly De La Cruz (9) and Dansby Swanson (10)
Since the Mets were 22-33 on May 29, the club has gone 32-15. Lindor has played all 47 games since, posting a league-high 3.9 fWAR and a 187 wRC+, third in the NL. Also during that span, he’s hitting .316/.402/.616 with 14 home runs, 36 RBI, 14 stolen bases, and 38 runs scored. His 1.018 OPS is fourth in the NL during that span
Who’s Hot 🔥
Over his last 57 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .312/.391/.586 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs, 40 RBI, 73 hits and 43 runs scored
In seven games since the All-Star Game, Jeff McNeil is hitting .417/.423/1.000 with two doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, 10 hits and seven runs scored
In his seven relief appearances since July 2, José Buttó has thrown 13.2 IP while allowing just three hits, five walks and just one earned run with 17 strikeouts, holding opponents to a .328 OPS during that span
Down on the Farm 🌾
Jonah Tong (No. 19 prospect, High-A): 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Luisangel Acuña (No. 4 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-4, 3B, R, RBI
Kevin Parada (No. 9 prospect, Double-A): 1-for-3, 2B, BB, R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (54-48) vs Braves (54-47)
Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Kodai Senga (2024 debut) vs. RHP Charlie Morton (5-5, 3.83 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
What should the Mets do with José Buttó? ✍️
Needless to say, José Butto has been a godsend for the Mets pitching staff.
When Luis Severino exited after allowing the Braves to tie up the game in the sixth, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza called upon what has emerged his ace reliever in Buttó to stop the bleeding.
With two on and nobody out, Buttó entered and struck out the next two batters before getting Ramón Laureano to fly out to end the inning. He stayed in to pitch the next two innings perfectly, giving the Mets a chance to win the ballgame, that which they eventually did in the tenth inning in dramatic fashion and pull to within 1/2 game of the Braves for the first wild card spot in the National League.
In the beginning of the year, the righty was a perfectly fine option as a starter. He was 1-3 with a 3.08 ERA in seven games in that role, striking out 38 in 38 innings pitched while holding opponents to a .171 opposing batting average.
Recently, of course, he has been a revelation out of the bullpen for these surging Mets.
He is 3-0 with a 0.66 ERA over seven games pitched in relief since being recalled in early July. He has struck out 17 batters in 13.2 innings and batters are hitting just .075 against him. After having a volatile bullpen for virtually the entire season, Buttó has offered an element of stability and reliability for Mendoza who can also happen to give him multiple innings of relief, which is especially important given the starters still can’t seem to go more than 4-5 innings, as was the case once again on Thursday night against Atlanta.
But as good as Buttó has been in relief, there are a few wrinkles to having him in the bullpen.
The first is his usage. He needs ample time to get warmed up in the bullpen since he is used to being a starter. He also needs time after throwing multiple innings which means he cannot be used on back-to-back days.
In other words, Mendoza’s indisputable best reliever is unavailable tonight against Atlanta, and quite possibly tomorrow as well.
The next wrinkle is the Mets are a bit thin in the starting rotation right now. Even with the return of Kodai Senga, the team needs another starter since Christian Scott went down with a right UCL sprain. They want to keep a six-man rotation in an effort to manage Senga and manage Severino’s innings, so for now they’re turning to Tylor Megill for the start on Saturday to keep the six-man plan intact.
But should it be Butto’s spot in the rotation going forward? Based on merit, there’s probably no question about it, but can this team afford to move him out of the bullpen?
Probably not.
Fortunately for the Mets, this conundrum is coming at a good time as their problems can be solved at the trade deadline. Undoubtedly, David Stearns will be looking to acquire pitching. Whether he acquires starters or relievers or both could answer the Buttó question for Mendoza.
Ultimately, the market could determine how the Mets tackle this problem, but it’s also worth mentioning the Mets should probably not fix what isn’t broken with Buttó right now, even if he is the best option among the current options to move into the rotation.
Until then the team is lucky to have him as an option both as a starter and a reliever.
Around the League 🚩
RHP Dylan Cease threw the a no-hitter against the Nationals which was the second no-hitter in Padres history
According to Ken Rosenthal, the Mariners acquired Randy Arozarena
The Diamondbacks have reportedly acquired reliever A.J. Puk from the Marlins
White Sox ace Garrett Crochet reportedly won’t pitch in the postseason without a contract extension if he gets traded
Athletics closer Mason Miller went on the IL with a fractured pinky that he injured after pounding a table
Max Scherzer struck out nine batters in his start against the White Sox which put him tenth on the all-time strikeout list, passing Justin Verlander
I agree Butto probably needs to stay in the BP even though he’d probably be our 3rd best starter. Plus going to a 6 man rotation filled with starters who go 5 means we need multiple multi-inning relievers and Houser shouldn’t be one of them. Stearns is going to earn his money now!