Mets can't afford to lose their heads and make dumb decisions down the stretch
The Mets got shelled by the Phillies in a night to forget, and keeping their cool may be the biggest challenge now...
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were rocked hard by the Phillies on Friday night, with a pitching implosion leading to a 12-2 loss (box)
LHP David Peterson was hit hard all night and allowed five runs - four earned - on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts in just 3.2 innings of work
RHP Adam Ottavino gave up three earned runs on two hits to help blow the game wide open for the Phillies, and RHP Huascar Brazobán and LHP Danny Young combined for four earned runs allowed on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts
The Mets struggled offensively all night, managing just four hits and going 0-for-4 with RISP, while leaving seven runners stranded on base
Playoff Race 🏁
As tough a night as Friday was, the Braves also lost to the Marlins so the Mets didn’t actually lose any ground in the Wild Card race.
They are still two games ahead of Atlanta.
However, with both the D-backs and the Padres winning on Friday, the Mets are now one game behind Arizona for the second Wild Card spot in the National League, and three games back of the Padres for the top berth.
There are eight games remaining.
With two games left against the Phillies, then three against the Braves in Atlanta and three against the Brewers in Milwaukee, the Mets now have the hardest remaining schedule in all of baseball.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 67.5% chance of making the postseason.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 4-3 (finished)
vs. SD: 5-2 (finished)
Injury Updates 🏥
SS Francisco Lindor (lower back strain) received a facet injection in his back and participated in baseball activities, including batting practice, on Friday. He will attempt to participate in a more robust set of baseball activities on Saturday (story)
RHP Kodai Senga (strained calf) will throw 1-2 innings (maximum 35 pitches) in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday. If there are no setbacks, Senga could then rejoin the Mets to pitch in Milwaukee on Friday
Down on the Farm 🌾
RHP Dom Hamel (No. 15 prospect, Triple-A): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
OF Drew Gilbert (No. 3 prospect, Triple-A): 3-for-4, 1 R, 5 RBI, 1 BB, 1 HR
SS Jett Williams (No. 2 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 BB
OF DJ Stewart (Triple-A): 2-for-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR, 1 SB
3B Brett Baty (Triple-A): 1-for-3, 1 RBI, 1 BB
BOX SCORES
Triple-A SYR
Mets top 30 prospects
The Mets also announced their player development awards:
Player of the Year: OF Nick Morabito
Pitcher of the Year: RHP Brandon Sproat
DSL Player of the Year: OF Edward Lantigua
DSL Pitcher of the Year: RHP Jose Guevara
Minor League Staff Member of Year: Ches Goodman
Dominican Academy Staff Member of Year: Anthony Sambois
Who’s Hot 🔥
Jose Iglesias extended his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first on Friday. He’s hitting .415/.446/.528 with 22 hits, three doubles, a home run, three RBI and 12 runs scored during that span
Who’s Cold 🥶
J.D. Martinez is now a career-high 0-for-31 after going 0-for-3 on Friday. It is also the longest hitless streak by a Met this season
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (85-69) vs. Phillies (92-62)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP Sean Manaea (11-5, 3.26 ERA) vs. LHP Ranger Suárez (12-7, 3.13 ERA)
When: 4:10 PM
Where to Watch: SNY / MLBN (out-of-market-only)
Now is the time for cool heads, not rash decisions… ✍️
We’ve now entered the time of year where cool, calm heads are required at all times.
Now isn’t the time for rash, impulsive decisions.
For the Mets, keeping their heads during what is now their toughest stretch of the entire year will be absolutely crucial.
Unfortunately, we did see the pressure start to get to this team a little bit on Friday night.
David Peterson was absolutely shelled, leading to Carlos Mendoza to turn the game over to his bullpen before the end of the fourth inning. Now, hindsight is a wonderful thing but, in reality, giving the ball to Adam Ottavino that early was not a good idea. Ottavino has now put multiple men on base in three consecutive outings, he’s allowed runs in four of his past 11 outings and he’s struggling to strikeout hitters. As a result, it is fair to question if Ottavino was the right guy to bring into such a high-leverage, high-pressured situation.
And Mendoza’s moment of panic ultimately cost the Mets as the bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding against a Phillies team who punched their playoff ticket, and are now on the cusp of clinching the NL East.
Of course, in the grand scheme of things, Friday’s loss didn’t cause too much damage with the Braves also losing to the Marlins. The Mets are still two whole games ahead of Atlanta for the final Wild Card spot with just eight games to go.
But, there are two critical decisions looming for this team that will require cool heads and plenty of logical reasoning…
The pending returns of Francisco Lindor and Kodai Senga.
Lindor has had an injection in his back and did take part in baseball activities at Citi Field on Friday. However, he was out of the lineup again and it isn’t clear on whether he will be able to return at all this weekend.
Now, there could be more urgency on the Mets’ part to get their star shortstop back in the lineup given the struggles of the offense on Friday night. But, given how big a problem this back pain clearly is, the organization needs to ensure they take it slow and steady with Lindor’s recovery.
After all, while the next week is beyond crucial, the offense has done okay for the most part without Lindor in the lineup. Scoring at least 10 runs in three consecutive games is hardly anything to sniff at. So, with that in mind, it would be foolish at this point to rush Lindor back and risk not having him for the playoffs.
That would be a disaster.
The same logic applies to Senga.
The righty is scheduled to pitch 1-to-2 innings for Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday and, if there are no setbacks, he could rejoin the Mets next week and pitch against Milwaukee on Friday.
Now, what role Senga will take on remains to be seen, but there are also risks attached to his return, too.
Even so, his presence alone will be a huge lift for this club.
It isn’t easy to forget all the trials and tribulations Senga had to go through just to get back on the field earlier in the year, before that calf strain ended his comeback before it had ever really begun. Senga is clearly a pitcher who needs more time to ramp up and there’s no way he’s going to be at full capacity for the postseason. Therefore, it might be best to ease the ace back in via a role in the bullpen. Especially given how stellar the starting rotation has been throughout the month of September.
All in all, the Mets need to get it right with Senga and, more importantly, Lindor, and they can’t allow the magnitude of the task awaiting them cloud their decisions.
After all, as we saw on Friday, rash decisions this time of year can prove fatal. You don’t want to be left kicking yourself for a dumb decision made in the heat of the moment when you’re sitting at home with the playoffs about to begin.
As the old saying goes, calm heads will prevail. Especially in September and October…
Around the League 🚩
The Braves failed to take advantage of the Mets losing on Friday after being beat 4-3 by the Marlins in Miami
Ketel Marte had a big night with a home run, a double and two RBIs as the D-backs beat the Brewers, 7-4 to take back sole possession of the second Wild Card spot
Joe Musgrove fired six innings of scoreless ball with nine strikeouts to help lead the Padres to victory over the White Sox, tightening their grip on the top Wild Card spot in the process
The Shohei Ohtani Show continues to roll on with the superstar collecting his 52nd home run and 52nd stolen base in another dominant outing on Friday
The dumbest decision was to keep Ottavino on this team! Time and time again he has blown games and innings. He struggles to throw strikes and when he does he gets knocked around. I’m tired of him.
Let's all stay cool. Supply Philly with an abundance of bubbly, beer and booze in congratulating them. Now at least take one of the next 2 games at least from them, and play for all the marbles in Atlanta for a post season spot.