It's frustrating times for the Mets offense, again!
The Mets offense browned out and Luis Severino deserved better in a loss to the woeful Rockies
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost to the Rockies 6-3 at Coors Field on Tuesday night (box)
RHP Luis Severino lasted only five difficult innings, allowing a Coors Field homer to Jake Cave as part of a three-run fourth inning which doomed his start
The Mets committed two errors in the fourth inning which contributed to the three runs - one on a throwing error from Tyrone Taylor which allowed runners to advance to second and third on a throwing error from Harrison Bader, then an error from Mark Vientos which allowed a ball to go out of play
The Mets offense staggered - Francisco Lindor struck out in his first three plate appearances, JD Martínez stranded a total of three runners in scoring position, and Jesse Winker grounded into a back-breaking double play to end the sixth with runners at the corners
The Mets went 2-for-7 with RISP on the night - they are just 30-for-146 with runners in scoring position since the All-Star break
Injury Updates 🏥
OF Starling Marte (bone bruise in knee) is expected to begin a rehab assignment today for Single-A St. Lucie
RHP Christian Scott (sprained UCL) will attempt to start a throwing program later this week
RHP Reed Garrett (elbow inflammation) is physically strong and not experiencing any discomfort - he will continue his rehab assignment this week
RHP Dedniel Núñez (right pronator strain) is throwing from 90 feet, and is expected to begin throwing from a mound soon
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets were unable to gain any ground in the wild card race, but did not lose ground overall despite their loss to Colorado on Tuesday night.
New York is 1.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with 49 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 38.5% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the eighth easiest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. STL: 4-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
Down on the Farm 🌾
INF Luisangel Acuña (Triple-A): 1-for-1, 2 RBI (pinch-hit go-ahead double)
RHP Joander Suárez (Double-A): 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 9 K
INF Colin Houch (Low-A): 1-for-2, 2 RBI, 2 R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK (PPD) | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (59-54) at Rockies (42-72)
Where: Coors Field - Denver, CO
Starters: RHP Paul Blackburn (5-2, 4.11 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Feltner (1-10, 4.97 ERA)
When: 8:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Frustrating times for the Mets, again! ✍️
Yes, the Mets are just 1.5 games out of a wild card.
Yes, there’s plenty of time.
Yes, its a tightly packed race, and anything can happen on a day-to-day basis.
Look no further than where the Mets stand, 1.5 games out and not losing any ground in the race even after a dismal loss to the Rockies.
But here’s the thing.
The Mets - on paper anyway - have one of the easiest schedules in baseball in the second half, despite their schedule away from Citi Field and on the other side of the country for the bulk of August.
However, they’re 2-3 on this road trip, that which includes a series loss to the lowly Angels, an inspiring win in their pit stop in St. Louis against the Cardinals, and then another flatline loss to the Rockies on Tuesday night in Denver, the worst team in the National League.
They’re 3-6 against the Angels, Rockies and Marlins over the last month. These are the kind of games in that third of the calendar that could define how the Mets land after game 162.
That’s playing down to the competition.
Wednesday’s woeful loss was particularly frustrating as the Mets offense just couldn’t get anything meaningful going against the Rockies, and they bumbled their way to the loss in that fourth inning thanks to two errors and a Coors Field homer from Jake Cave when he seemingly just dropped a pop up beyond Brandon Nimmo’s reach in left field for a two-run homer.
Even though it was 4-2, the game wasn’t over and the Mets had so many chances to come back and cash in, I lost count.
Their next biggest threat came in the sixth inning, when it looked like they were in business with runners at the corners, but Jesse Winker grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to shut the door.
JD Martínez left a small army with runners in scoring position himself.
Again, a game that could have been won was left by the wayside thanks to one sort of mistake from Luis Severino and an offense that just continues to brown out at the most inopportune times.
Yet, they’re just 1.5 games out of the wild card despite their diminishing odds to actually win a wild card spot. The calendar is creeping down - they have 49 game left on the schedule.
Now, I think there are a few reasons why this road trip has been particularly frustrating so far.
As it is much of the time when teams go out west, it’s simply never easy. Cake onto that this ridiculous pit stop in St. Louis for one game only to have to switch time zones again 24 hours later, and that’s just brutal on the system.
It’s not an excuse - the Mets need to play better. They haven’t been great overall since the break thanks in large measure to their staggering offense. They looked pretty sleepy out there on Tuesday night between the flat offense (Francisco Lindor was the poster boy of that struggle with his hat trick out of the leadoff spot) and the sloppy play in the fourth inning.
This offense could also use a boost against left-handed pitching, for what it’s worth. And with Starling Marte beginning a rehab assignment soon, perhaps that boost is coming.
They’re 17-16 against left-handed starting pitching this season. The splits look pretty good overall, but I think the Mets need an injection of offense into these situations, especially since they’re not ready to have Jeff McNeil back in there on a full-time basis against southpaws, and aren’t inclined to use Winker in those situations either.
There was some good news, of course.
Despite the line, Severino deserved a lot better than what he got last night. It’s Coors Field, that homer to Cave was a killer (and while it was a Coors Field homer, that’s out in 26 of the 30 ballparks, including Citi Field Field, according to StatCast), and the defense betrayed him as part of that fourth inning. But it was good to see Severino’s velocity back to where it should be, if not exceeding his season averages on the night. His spins were down, but that’s the Mile High City for you and it’s just expected a pitcher will give up at least four earned runs in that ballpark, especially one that is new to a player.
So, take that away as a positive for a guy who has thrown more innings than he has in six years in 2024. I expect good things during his next start in Seattle.
Look - in the end, this is a series the Mets just have to get. The next two games are uber critical on the schedule for this team. We are no longer in a part of the schedule when series losses against the second division teams can be corrected later in the schedule. We are late in the schedule, in the last third of the season and in a tightly packed race, every single game has implications.
Welcome to the pennant race.
Around the League 🚩
The White Sox finally won - they snapped their 21-game losing streak with a 5-1 win over the A’s in Oakland
Framber Valdez took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, but Corey Seager spoiled it with a two-run home run - the Astros settled for a 4-2 win over the Rangers
The Cardinals edged the Rays 4-3 in St. Louis, scoring all four runs in the second inning thanks in part to a two-run home run from Tommy Pham
The Brewers slammed the Braves 10-0 and got seven shutout innings from Colin Rea
The season long sample reeks of mediocrity, as defined by inconsistency. This is a .500 type club, only in playoff contention because the 3 WC’s allow mediocre teams to hang around, even if it’s an allusion for most of them. I said 2 or 3 of the 7 teams would start to win: 3 have winning records over last 10. Alas, the Mets will be the last of the pretenders to fade out. Nothing is pointed in any other direction.