It's a beautiful day for a ballgame! Let's play two!
Mets and Cardinals have a twin-bill on-tap following a rain out on Saturday with top pitching prospect Blade Tidwell set to make his big league debut
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets and Cardinals were rained out on Saturday - they will complete their three-game series today in St. Louis with a split doubleheader today at 1:15 PM and 6:15 PM
Roster Moves 📰
RHP Blade Tidwell to have his contract selected from Triple-A Syracuse - a corresponding roster move will be announced later
Who’s Hot? 🔥
Over his last 12 games, Brandon Nimmo is hitting .283/.320/.500 with a double, three home runs, 13 RBI, 13 hits and 9 runs scored
Over his last 19 games, Luisangel Acuña is hitting .339/.385/.424 with 20 hits, 5 doubles, 6 stolen bases, 4 RBI and 11 runs scored
Over his last 30 games, Pete Alonso is hitting .364/.485/.710 with 39 hits, 11 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 30 RBI and 23 runs scored
Over his last 14 games, Juan Soto is hitting .308/.403/.500 with 16 hits, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 RBI and 10 runs scored
Over his last 24 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .330/.393/.540 with 33 hits, 3 doubles, 6 home runs, 13 RBI and 18 runs scored
Down on the Farm 🌾
CF Drew Gilbert (No. 10 prospect, Triple-A): 1-for-2, HR, RBI, 2 R, 3 BB
OF Eli Serrano III (No. 22 prospect, High-A): 1-for-2, RBI, R, 2 BB
INF Colin Houck (No. 33 prospect, Low-A): 3-for-5, R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG (PPD) | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (22-11) vs. Cardinals (14-19)
Where: Busch Stadium - St. Louis, MO
GAME 1
Starters: RHP Blade Tidwell (MLB Debut) vs. TBD
When: 1:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
GAME 2
Starters: RHP Tylor Megill (3-2, 1.74 ERA) vs. TBD
When: 6:15 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Thoughts about the rainout, the strength of the Mets schedule, Juan Soto’s ascent ✍️
In a way, the Mets really needed the rainout on Saturday.
I know, they’re playing two today, which will of course throw their pitching staff for a loop again ahead of their series against the Diamondbacks this week, and they’ll unquestionably need to make a number of moves before tomorrow night’s game in Arizona.
But sometimes an unintended break is what the staff needs. They get to reset their bullpen a little bit ahead of Blade Tidwell’s MLB debut this afternoon as they position themselves for a sweep of the Cardinals in “The Lou” this afternoon and early evening.
They’re probably going to need quite a bit of bullpen today, especially in Game 1 when it’s only realistic to expect Tidwell to give them up to five innings. Maybe they’ll be fortunate and he can go a little deeper, but they have to plan for a short outing there.
Maybe Edwin Díaz will appear in one of these two games? We shall see about that. He needs work - he hasn’t appeared in a game since April 26.
Anyway, I see a lot of smack talk about the Mets and their soft schedule to start the year. First off, every team - including the bad ones - gets a soft section or two, or three, or four, in their schedule. And there are plenty of teams that play mediocre at best against them, including Mets teams of the past. But if anyone is worried, the Mets have played 12 games against teams at or equal to .500, one fewer than the Dodgers and three fewer than the Phillies to start the year. So it’s not as if they’ve had this grossly imbalanced schedule with respect to some other teams. I’d argue the Cubs, Brewers, and Giants have had among the most difficult schedules to-date based on the sheer number of games they’ve played against teams at or over .500, but this will all probably balance itself out as the year goes on.
Recall - the Mets had a gauntlet of a schedule last June and into July themselves, and that propelled their season in 2024. The good teams don’t let it bother them, and I would venture to say their record against the tougher part of the schedule creates the identity of the ball club.
The Mets have a tough week coming up with three against the Diamondbacks and three against the Cubs. There’s a tough ten-day stretch later this month with the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers. Then the Dodgers will sandwich a very soft part of their schedule in late May into early June before it gets more difficult again in mid-June and into July 4 weekend.
So again, these things tend to balance themselves out, and we will see how the Mets fortify their pitching staff and play through those choppy waters.
Meanwhile, the Mets simply need to rack up wins right now and give themselves a margin for error.
Onto Juan Soto…
Things are starting to perk up for the newest Mets star. He’s still pulling off a lot of balls and topping balls to the tune of a 53.5 percent groundball rate this season, which is just absurd. But he is starting to find the opposite field again - his two homers to center and left-center earlier this week at Citi Field are evidence of that. He has looked more like Juan Soto in the last two weeks than he did in his first two weeks, although we are obviously still waiting for him to drive the ball more consistently.
A lot of people have used the cold weather as an excuse, a lot have said he is being pitched differently (including Soto, for what it’s worth), but all of that is nonsense. In the end, he was slumping. In the end, he is probably pressing. In the end, this is a new club with a big contract, and it might just be a classic case of a kid trying to do too much to impress. When we look at his final line in 2025, it will very likely look like a Juan Soto season, that which was impactful for himself and others around him in the lineup.
I’d argue his presence alone has helped Pete Alonso look like himself.
As I said, the Mets schedule will be getting a little more arduous in the coming days. So they’re going to need Soto to be that impactful player and help be a run creator in the middle of that lineup. Especially with so much uncertainty with the pitching staff, which will only regress as we move ahead with the schedule.
Around the League 🚩
Shohei Ohtani homered as part of a three-hit night, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, and Rōki Sasaki earned his first big league win in the Dodgers 10-3 rout of the Braves
Kyle Stowers homered twice, including a walk-off grand slam in the Marlins 9-6 win over the A’s
Aaron Judge homered and singled to raise his batting average to .432 for the year, but the Rays edged the Yankees 3-2
Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and drove in three runs in the Cubs 6-2 win over the Brewers
Rooting for the kid to throw a gem! A double header on a Sunday , almost like the old days!
You can only play who you’re scheduled to play. To that end, you have to clean up on the weaker teams. They’ve done that. Having said that, baseball is an intricate game depending on at least 10 individual performances each game. Every team is concerned when one of those is not performing, much less multiple players-even first place teams. The Mets have taken care of business. They still have concerns. They will for 162 games. How that pans out as compared to their competition will determine their fate. So far so good. Yes, GM’s and coaching staff will continue to be quietly concerned. It’s their job.