Key difference between Mets and Braves on display as the Mets fell 4-0 in a rain-shortened game Friday night
The Mets scattered three singles over five innings as the gap in the NL East widened to three games
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost 4-0 to the Braves in a five-inning, rain-shortened game at Citi Field on Friday night (Box)
David Peterson was largely ineffective again on Friday night, allowing four runs over five innings including a three-run home run from Matt Olson
The Mets scattered just three singles against Max Fried, who extending his scoreless streak to 18 innings
The Mets have lost four of their last five games and were shutout for the fifth time already this season, having scored just three runs per game during that span
Injury Updates 🏥
RHP Justin Verlander (teres major strain) struck out six over 4.2 IP for Double-A Binghamton on Friday - he said he was healthy and ready to return to the Mets
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets vs Braves
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, New York
Starters: RHP Spencer Strider (3-0, 1.80 ERA) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (3-1, 3.96 ERA)
When: 4:05 PM EDT
Where to Watch: FOX
The key difference between the Mets and Braves was fully on display Friday night ✍🏻
Last night’s game, albeit a brief one, displayed the clear cut difference between the Mets and the Braves.
It’s not the pitching. The Mets pitching staff is in utter shambles right now, but hopefully sanity will be restored to it in the next few days (and maybe the Mets will get lucky and get a rainout or two in the process? :)). Max Scherzer should be back on Monday (depending on the weather, of course) and Justin Verlander should be back for his turn on Wednesday, meaning David Peterson has likely thrown his last pitch as a member of the starting rotation for a while.
That’s all a given.
To Peterson’s credit, he pitched pretty well over the first four innings of his start on Friday. But a 1-0 game in the fifth turned into a 4-0 game awful fast thanks to a couple of hits and a three-run home run from Matt Olson.
In the end, it was another ineffective and frustrating night for Peterson as he fell victim once again to ineffectiveness of his secondary pitches and poor strike quality overall.
But that’s still not the main difference between the two clubs right now. The Mets will have credibility restored to their rotation in short order.
It’s the offense and the Braves’ ability to score multiple runs in a short period of time, with that fifth inning serving as the shining example of the abilities of one lineup over another.
The Braves took the air out of the Mets balloon with one swing of the bat on Friday. Mets, meanwhile, continue to be a singles hitting team in large measure, a team which requires three hits for every run, and therefore a team that has a lot of difficulty scoring runs as a result. All that does is result in too many runners left on-base and too many missed scoring opportunities.
And on some days, its results in no scoring opportunities, such was the case on Friday night.
It’s not going to change, either. At least not for the foreseeable future. Sure, they might try this lineup or that, start this player or that, decide to make Brett Baty and Francisco Álvarez primary players. But unlike the pitching staff there’s no cavalry coming for the lineup.
Now to Billy Eppler’s credit, the Mets simply had to focus on the reconstruction of the starting rotation during the winter. They literally had one starting pitcher left from 2022.
But it is kind of funny how things work out, isn’t it?
In the first 27 games of the season, the Mets have gotten the sum total of 19 innings from Scherzer (some of which were ineffective), Verlander, Edwin Díaz, and José Quintana. That the Mets are 15-12 with this offense and a fragmented pitching staff where they’ve gotten next to nothing from four of their five primary starters should be considered a miracle in it’s own right.
Still, it’s fair to say the pitching staff is in a wait-and-see mode. Scherzer and Verlander will be back in days, Quintana, not exactly. It’s the offense which needs some inspiration from within, a change in the way it’s approached and strategized, find a functional formula against left-handed pitching, and they have to figure out how to make their offense functional on days neither Francisco Lindor nor Pete Alonso are not.
Until then, why would anything change?
Around the League 🚩
An MRI on Aaron Judge’s hip was inconclusive, Jacob deGrom left his start against the Yankees with forearm tightness, and the Rangers beat the Yankees 5-2 in Arlington on Friday
The Phillies stayed hot, improving to 14-13 with a 3-1 win over the Astros in Houston
The Giants and Padres will play the first-ever regular season series in Mexico City beginning tonight at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú.
The Rays won again, this time coming from behind on the White Sox and winning 3-2 in a pitchers duel Zack Efflin and Lucas Giollito - they are now 22-5 on the year