Mets need more from their big boppers, and they got that on Wednesday...
Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso combined for five of the Mets' six runs in Wednesday's win over the Angels
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What’s up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets beat the Angels 6-3 at Citi Field on Wednesday afternoon to sweep the series (box)
LHP Sean Manaea looked sharp over five innings of work, allowing one earned run on two hits and two walks with five strikeouts
LF Brandon Nimmo became the first player to play 500 games at Citi Field, and he celebrated with a leadoff homer in the first inning
SS Francisco Lindor snapped a 0-for-31 skid with a 2-for-4 day, including a pair of RBIs
1B Pete Alonso also ended a recent cold spell by blasting a three-run homer in the bottom of the third. Alonso finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs
The Mets have now won four straight - their longest winning streak in six weeks - and they are back in first place in the NL East by half a game over the Phillies
Rumor Mill 💨
The Mets are reportedly among the teams who have reached out to the Padres about RHP Dylan Cease (Buster Olney)
Who’s Hot 🥵
After going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a RBI on Wednesday, LF Brandon Nimmo now owns a 17-game on-base streak
Over his past 50 games, Nimmo has produced a .918 OPS and his 59 hits during that span lead the National League
Nimmo is also hitting .321/.422/.491 with 17 hits, 12 runs scored, two home runs, seven walks and nine RBIs over his last 15 games
Play of the Game 🌟
After Francisco Lindor gave the Mets a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, another struggling hitter came to the plate with a huge opportunity to do some real damage.
And, boy, did Pete Alonso come through in a huge spot.
With two runners on and one out, Alonso proceeded to demolish the heck out of the baseball. He sent it a whopping 439-feet to the second deck in left-center field to blow the game wide open.
Alonso’s 22nd blast of the year - and the 248th of his career - made it a 5-1 game. And, with the pitching staff doing their jobs, the Angels had no real way of coming back from a deficit that big.
Down on the Farm 🌾
The Mets Top 30 Prospect Rankings List has been updated by MLB Pipeline ahead of the Trade Deadline (MLB.com)
LF Jared Young (Triple-A): 3-for-5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 3B, 1 HR, 1 SB
CF Drew Gilbert (No. 12 prospect, Triple-A): 4-for-5, 1 RBI, 1 2B
1B Ryan Clifford (No. 7 prospect, Double-A): 3-for-4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 HR
3B Nick Lorusso (Double-A): 3-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 2B, 1 SB
2B Nick Roselli (Single-A): 3-for-3, 3 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB
RF Simon Juan (Single-A): 3-for-3, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 1 3B
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓️
The Mets are off on Thursday and will head to the West Coast for a six-game road trip against the Giants and the Padres. New York will be back in action in San Francisco on Friday night
After Wednesday, Mets can’t afford for key duo to go cold again…✍️
I’m going to warn you now - today’s editorial is going to be stating the pretty damn obvious from start to finish.
I apologize deeply in advance.
But, sometimes, and especially on days like today, you just need to say it exactly how it is. Even if what you are saying is already apparent to all.
So, on that note, let’s get on with stating the freaking obvious…
After both broke out of their respective cold spells on Wednesday, Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso can’t afford to disappear from action the rest of the way.
They just can’t. Period.
With as inconsistent as this offense has been, and given the amount of question marks hovering over the lineup as currently constituted, Lindor and Alonso - along with Juan Soto and Brandon Nimmo - need to play like the big-hitting stars they are.
They also need to play to the back of their baseball cards every single damn night through the rest of the regular season and into the postseason.
After all, given this team’s need to address both the starting rotation and the bullpen, it is very likely that the Mets will emerge from the Trade Deadline with just one significant bat added to the lineup, if that. That won’t be enough to fix the lineup and solve all the warts that have plagued what was supposed to be a dynamic offense up to this point.
Therefore, it will be up to ‘The Fab Four’ - Soto, Lindor, Alonso, and Nimmo - to carry this lineup and this team the rest of the way.
We’re deep in July and it is simply both unacceptable and unhelpful for players with the star quality of Lindor and Alonso to go ice cold. Brutal slumps this time of year can cause the kind of damage that simply can’t be undone.
And, heading into Wednesday’s game, there was genuine concern about the top of the lineup given that two of its key drivers were nowhere to be seen.
For instance, Lindor flew out in the first inning to make it a career-worst 0-for-31 skid. Alonso had begun the day mired in a 2-for-33 rut and hitless in 13 at-bats. Furthermore, he had failed to hit a home run in 10 straight games. Things were looking beyond bleak for two guys who are supposed to produce offense at an elite clip.
And, then, just like that, everything changed.
With one swing of the bat, the slumps had been busted and then some.
Lindor got the party started with a clutch RBI single in the bottom of the third to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Clearly inspired by the standing ovation his teammate received after breaking an all-time skid at the plate, Alonso came through with his own monster hit in the same inning. The slugger blasted a 439-foot three-run homer to the left-center second deck to blow the game wide open.
The damage didn’t stop there.
Lindor hit another RBI single in the fourth to make it a 6-1 game and give his team a sizable insurance policy. Alonso would also hit an opposite-field single later on in the game to ensure that both players finished with multi-hit efforts.
For Alonso and Lindor, who had combined for just one RBI over a seven-game stretch from July 12-22, Wednesday could prove to be a key turning point for the duo. Lindor was just seven more hitless at-bats away from surpassing Rey Ordóñez for the worst skid (0-for-37) in franchise history. As for Alonso, he’s now a step closer to history having moved within four home runs of Darryl Strawberry for the all-time Mets home run record. Plus, after collecting three RBIs on Wednesday, Alonso has now eclipsed the 80-RBI mark for the sixth time in his career. He is now the only Mets player to have multiple seasons with at least 80 RBIs through 103 team games. He’s also on pace to end the season with 121 RBIs.
However, the dynamic duo now need to use Wednesday as a launch platform for bigger and better things down the stretch.
Of course, it is hardly a secret that Lindor and Alonso are streaky players. Lindor is known for starting seasons cold, while he also has seven hitless streaks of at least 20 at-bats. As for Alonso, he can also blow hot and cold and he went a significant stretch without a home run before the All-Star break.
There is a time and a place, though. It is one thing going ice cold in May or June, and quite another to offer essentially nothing in mid-to-late July with so much at stake in a tight divisional race.
Given how important Lindor and Alonso are to this lineup, going long stretches without being productive is simply not an option anymore.
We saw on Wednesday how everything else clicks when the top of the lineup comes through and delivers. There is less pressure on the bottom of the lineup to do more than is expected of them, while the likes of Sean Manaea and the rest of the pitching staff have the support they need to do their jobs.
When the top of the lineup performs as it is supposed to, good things tend to happen. Lindor and Alonso finally breaking out and coming through their recent struggles played a big role in the Mets sweeping the Angels and moving back to the time of the NL East.
Now, however, more will be needed from both Lindor and Alonso the rest of the way. They will need to turn Wednesday into a dominant stretch of games the rest of the way if this offense is going to morph from a mediocre unit into one that can do some serious damage against the very best in the postseason.
If we are to witness something special in October, the big hitters in this lineup will need to elevate their games and live up to their star billing. There can’t be any more slumps for Lindor or Alonso in particular. They are too elite to be total no-shows for long stretches of time this side of the All-Star break.
Around the League 🚩
The Brewers beat the Mariners 10-2 and have the best record in baseball having won 12 of their last 13 games
OF Aaron Judge hit his 37th home run of the year, but that wasn’t enough as the Yankees lost 8-4 to the Blue Jays
DH Shohei Ohtani tied a Dodgers record by homering in his fifth straight game as LA walked off the Twins thanks to 1B Freddie Freeman’s two-run single
Phillies 1B Bryce Harper became the youngest active player (32) to hit 350 career home runs in Major League Baseball
RHP Justin Verlander snapped the longest winless streak by a pitcher in franchise history (0-8) by leading the Giants to a 9-3 win over the Braves with five scoreless innings
It's always nice to add a front-line starter if you can get him cheap, but the biggest need for now is the bullpen. I'm not sure we could even create a slot for a new starter unless someone gets hurt.
Which could happen at any time, of course. Senga especially has proven to be somewhat fragile. But with Sean back and Montas pitching effectively in his return too, we'd still be in good shape in the rotation were something to happen.
A higher priority is relievers, and lefty relievers in particular. Raley is back early so we don't want to overuse him. We need at least one more, maybe two.
Those early RBI hits were huge. Hope they both can keep it up.