Mets nearly no-hit, fall silently to the Braves 4-1

The Mets offense continues to struggle as the club has dropped 12 of it's last 18 games

Michael Baron

May 12, 2024

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets offense went lifeless again in a 4-1 loss to the Braves at Citi Field (Box)
The Mets mustered just two hits on Saturday night, going 8.2 innings without one until JD Martínez hit his first home run of the year - they had two hits on the nights total
The Mets did draw six walks on the night, but went 0-for-4 with RISP and left seven runners on-base
Christian Scott started for the Mets and was solid, allowing two of his three runs via a two-run homer from Orlando Arcia over six innings. He struck out eight, allowing six hits and three walks on Saturday
Max Fried threw a gem against the Mets - he walked three batters and struck out five over seven hitless innings

Injury Updates 🏥

LHP Brooks Raley (elbow inflammation) has possible fraying of a ligament in his elbow, and could potentially need internal brace or Tommy John Surgery
RHP Kodai Senga (shoulder capsule injury) is dealing with some mechanical issues during his rehab process - it is unclear when he will face live batters again or in what setting that might be
OF Brandon Nimmo left Saturday’s game with an intercostal injury. He is day-to-day
RHP Drew Smith (shoulder tightness) struck out one in a scoreless inning for Triple-A Syracuse during his major league rehab assignment on Saturday

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The Mets Offense, since April 21… ❄️

They’ve hit .216/.282/.344 since April 21 - they are 6-12 during that span
Their 62 runs scored, .216 team average and .344 slugging percentage are the fifth worst in MLB during this span
Their 84 wRC+ is the sixth worst in baseball during this span
The Mets are averaging just 3.4 runs per game during this span
They’ve stolen just nine bases, the seventh worst during this span
Individual performances:
- JD Martínez: .267/.313/.378
- Brandon Nimmo: .254/.382/.460
- Francisco Lindor: .239/.278/.522
- Jeff McNeil: .227/.292/.242
- Harrison Bader: .227/.277/.250
- Starling Marte: .214/.262/.250
- Tyrone Taylor: .206/.206/.253
- Tomás Nido: .205/.244/.308
- Brett Baty: .190/.266/.310
- Pete Alonso: .185/.270/.385
- DJ Stewart: .147/.310/.265

Down on the Farm 🌾

RHP Douglas Orellana (Single-A Brooklyn): 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 10 K
OF Jeffry Rosa (Single-A St. Lucie): 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
C Kevin Parada (Double-Binghamton): 2-for-5, 3 RBI
OF Luke Ritter (Triple-A Syracuse): 2-for-3, HR RBI

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | Single-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (18-20) vs. Braves (24-12)

Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Bryce Elder (1-1, 5.28 ERA) vs. RHP Luis Severino (2-2, 2.93 ERA)

When: 7:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: ESPN

The numbers speak for themselves… ✍️

So before we talk about the anemic Mets offense, it would be unfair to discuss Saturday night’s game without offering a ton of credit to the Braves pitching staff.

Max Fried was brilliant. He might’ve fired seven no-hit innings against any club last night. He got ten swings and misses with his off-speed pitches alone last night, dazzling one hitter after the next with that Glavine-like approach to pitching he uses. He didn’t even need that back foot slider he has very much - instead, he went with a sinker/curve approach on the Mets and he just made them look silly all night long.

So, kudos to him and the Braves bullpen for nearly pulling off that combined no-hitter. All they needed was one more out, and the Mets would’ve been on the wrong side of history against the Braves, again.

In addition, we should discuss Christian Scott who looked every bit as big league as he did last week against the Rays. If you’re not excited by Scott at this point, even as the Mets fall deeper into this malaise they’re in, perhaps you should watch another sport.

Right now, Scott is mainly a fastball/slider guy but he’s got this sweeper/splitter combination in his arsenal which has really transformed him into a major league pitcher. He had a 32 percent swing and miss rate on Saturday which helped him tally eight strikeouts on the night. He really made just one mistake and it was against Orlando Arcia. He tagged him for a two-run homer in the third, but that was really all that was bad for Scott who in my mind, belongs here and is only going to get better with time and experience.

I said it back in March when he made that dazzling start against the Marlins in Jupiter - this guy can help the Mets right now. His breaking stuff is elite, his fastball velocity is awesome, and he has a mound presence young pitchers of his ilk don’t often have. It’s that IT factor if you will, a guy who spits nails out there and I love pitchers like this.

Now, about that Mets offense…

Look - the numbers you see above tell the story. Collectively, the Mets have been terrible at the plate since the beginning of their late-April west coast trip.

The concerning part to me is less about the results and more about the process which is leading to these results.

Yes, teams slump, people slump, and I know each and every one of them is working hard, taking the necessary steps on the tee, watching video and all of those basic things to try and get their timing and balance at the plate.

That’s not what I am talking about though as far as the process is concerned.

In the past, when teams slumped - and they all do regardless of how good they are in the standings - they change up their in-game strategy in order to create opportunities to score. Baserunners would start moving, a center/opposite field approach would be used at the plate. Just creating activity and noise on the bases would help teams win low scoring games, a situation the Mets are finding themselves in on a daily basis at this point.

But the Mets don’t do that. They’ve literally opted not to. They have nine stolen bases during this 6-12 stretch, in an era when stolen bases and daring base running are both in vogue.

In other words, it’s the same old same old night in and night out with the offense. They’re a station-to-station, singles-hitting team needing three hits for every run they score.

Hence their abysmal performance with runners in scoring position seemingly on a daily basis.

We could talk individually about Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Brett Baty, Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte, and pretty much everyone mentioned above, but I’ll just make it short and sweet.

They’ve all been disappointing in large measure over the course of the first 25 percent of this season. For one reason or another.

And while they are all part of the problem I am talking about, it still appears to be a collective failure to adjust a process which is undeniably failing the Mets.

Now, it’s always about skill in the end. If they were hitting, or at least 30 percent of these players were hitting, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation right now because the Mets wouldn’t have lost 12 of their last 18 games. Unfortunately, there’s not much the Mets can do with this offense except change the process. They can switch out Baty for Mark Vientos, but then they’re giving up on what is a vastly improved third baseman in Baty, which will in-turn adversely impact the performance of the pitching staff.

And by the way, to hold the Braves to eight runs over the first two games in this series feels like an accomplishment. But the Mets pitching staff - from their starters to the relievers - are far from the problem.

Around the League 🚩

RHP Paul Skenes made his highly-anticipated MLB debut with the Pirates on Saturday - he allowed three runs with seven strikeouts over four innings in a wild 10-9 win over the Cubs
Former Met Mark Canha hit a grand slam in the Tigers 8-2 win over the Astros
The Blue Jays were down by six runs but rallied to beat the Twins 10-8 in Toronto
Anthony Volpe had three hits and two RBI, but the Rays defeated the Yankees 7-2 at Tropicana Field