Shadows caused pivotal misplay as the Mets sink in London by the Phillies
Starling Marte's play not made in right field in the fifth inning sank Sean Manaea and the Mets in the UK
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets lost to the Phillies on Saturday by a score of 7-2 in London (Box)
Sean Manaea started for the Mets and got knocked out in the fourth inning - he allowed six runs in 3.2 IP
Starling Marte failed to make a catch in right field in the fourth inning - he lost a fly ball in the shadows off the bat of Edmundo Sosa which should have ended the frame. Instead, the ball dropped in front of him. The next batter - Whit Merrifield - hit a three run home run as part of a six-run inning for the Phillies
The Mets did notch ten hits but went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners on-base
Marte, Pete Alonso and Jose Iglesias did produce multi-hit games for the Mets
The Mets bullpen allowed only one run over the final 5.1 innings of the game
Down on the Farm 🌾
INF Ryan Clifford (No. 4 prospect, Double-A Binghamton): 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI
INF Junior Tillen (High-A Brooklyn): 2-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R
OF Trayce Thompson (Triple-A Syracuse): 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (27-36) vs. Phillies (45-19)
Where: London Stadium - London, ENG
Starters: LHP Jose Quintana (1-5, 5.17 ERA) vs. RHP Taijuan Walker (3-1, 5.73 ERA)
When: 10:10 AM EDT
Where to Watch: ESPN
This time, it was the view… ✍️
I faintly recall - I believe it was in November - when Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns talked about wanting to improve the Mets athleticism, speed, and defense heading into 2024.
Needless to say, I am still waiting for that to actually happen with this club.
On Saturday in London, the Mets once again flubbed an opportunity to maintain some level of prosperity in their recent uptick in the win column thanks to a crooked number allowed in the fourth inning by Sean Manaea and company.
To be fair to Manaea, the six runs he allowed in the fourth inning were not entirely his fault. He did allow a game-tying home run to Bryce Harper, which is just going to happen because he’s great and he does that.
That’s all well and good. It’s what happened after that which is what’s so maddening about Saturday’s game.
With two outs and a the go-ahead run on in Alec Bohm, Manaea walked Bryson Stott which brought Edmundo Sosa to the plate. Manaea made an out pitch, inducing the desired contact with a lazy fly ball to right field.
Except, the result of the out pitch didn’t exactly produce the desired outcome.
Starling Marte pulled up on the fly ball which landed about five or six feet in front of him. Instead of stranding two runners on-base with a routine fly ball, it turned into an RBI single which plated Bohm and gave the Phillies the lead.
But that was just the beginning.
Whit Merrifield proceeded to hit a three-run bomb and that was pretty much that for the Mets in what has been one of the many recurring themes for this club throughout what has been an utterly miserable season.
To be fair, Manaea couldn’t pick up Marte’s inability to make a routine catch, and he was accountable for that poor pitching after the game. But it shouldn’t necessarily come to that, especially in the big leagues and against a powerhouse rival in the National League.
But he pitched a whole lot better than what he got, despite his inability to stop the bleeding. In the end, it was Manaea’s second straight ineffective start after allowing five earned runs in 5.2 IP to Arizona last weekend.
That marks 11 earned runs allowed over his last 9.1 IP.
Simply put, the Mets continue to give teams extra outs whether its with plays like this which aren’t made, a double play which can’t be turned, an infielder’s inability to range left or right or back or in, and so on and so forth.
They lead the league in defensive runs not saved, that is for sure.
Now, Marte will have you believe he lost the ball in the lights or the shadows in what is unquestionably an awkward ballpark with weird lighting and lower decks for stands. I’m willing to give Marte the benefit of the doubt in what was still an inexcusable play not made. But his defense - like many of his colleagues on this roster - has declined so dramatically this season to a point one can’t help but be reminded that this continues to happen to Marte.
“I think a lot of the plays I have struggled with this year have been the ones that have been down the line and I think those are the conversations that me and the coaching staff need to have going forward,” Marte explained afterwards.
Sure, maybe this one was because of the lighting or the shadows or the weirdness of playing baseball in a soccer stadium, and the last one before this might have been for some other reason. In the end, chalk it up to a play not made and loss on the ledger which can be attributed to the improved defense which simply hasn’t come for this club in 2024.
It always seems to be something with the Mets, doesn’t it? That’s what’s so frustrating - the reasons why they don’t do things well.
But the main reason they don’t do things well is because they’re incapable of doing things well at this point. After all, the Phillies didn’t not catch fly balls in the outfield on Saturday, right?
Entering play on Saturday, the Mets were 29th in MLB with -30 defensive runs saved. Maybe that’s partially why Marte didn’t catch that ball, and partially why the Mets have the third worst record in the National League.
I get it - it’s a weird ballpark which actually isn’t a baseball stadium. It’s a soccer stadium and the lights are at a different and lower angle. I’m not saying it’s easy by any means for a pro to go to a strange stadium 3500 miles away and play under conditions which are unfamiliar. I understand and respect the difficulty of the circumstances. But it’s not an excuse, either, and I feel like that’s what this was passed off as, rather than just saying, “you know, I just have to catch that ball. I need to be better. My bad.”
Instead, I just heard a reason for the misplay.
Contenders are accountable. The Mets just say the view was the problem.
Around the League 🚩
The Dodgers won their series against the Yankees with an 11-2 drubbing in the Bronx thanks to a six RBI night from Teoscar Hernandez
The surging Reds edged the Cubs 4-3 for their seventh straight win - TJ Friedl drove in three runs for the Reds
Gunnar Henderson drove in three runs and Kyle Bradish fired six shutout innings as the Orioles defeated the Rays 5-0
Ben Lively lowered his ERA to 2.59 for the year with five shutout innings to help pace the Guardians to an 8-0 win over the Marlins
Marte is a Dog !! And the Whiz Kid is a FRAUD !! The sad part is that it will take Cohen 3-5 years to figure this out!! Fans need to contact Cohen and plead that he hire a Savy GM ASAP to help offset the Whiz Kid !!!